Między spojrzeniami. Film „Wniebowstąpienie” Larysy Szepitko i tryptyk „Kino” Jurija Rakszy
Between the Two Visions. „The Ascent” by Larisa Shepitko and „The Cinema” by Yuri Raksha

Summary/Abstract: In the article author discusses Yuri Raksha’s triptych "The Cinema" (1977), which is a painted commentary to the film "The Ascent" (1976) by Larisa Shepitko, based on a war novel by Vasyli Bykau. Being also the art director of the movie, Raksha created an allegory regarding as much the film itself as the phenomenon of cinema in general, the ethical and aesthetic choices of an artist facing external, mainly political conditions and restrictions. The multilayered work combines multiple tropes and appeals directly to the viewers’ emotions, drawing them in a way into the world of fundamental moral and existential dilemmas, through allusions to the great religious tradition of European art, both of the East and the West, as well as referring to Andrei Tarkowski’s films. Both in the painting and the movie, the supremacy of the spiritual element over materiality was expressed in specific shots of the characters’ faces, which evoke strong emotional resonance in the viewer.

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