Character Relationship Map: The Ascent

Characters

• Sotnikov (played by Boris Plotnikov) — protagonist

  Sotnikov is a Soviet partisan who travels with Rybak to obtain food for their unit. Wounded in the leg during a firefight with a German patrol, he refuses to betray information under torture. Before h...

• Rybak (played by Vladimir Gostyukhin) — protagonist

  Rybak is Sotnikov's fellow Soviet partisan and companion on the food-gathering mission. After Sotnikov is wounded, he saves him from suicide and carries him to Demchikha's shelter. Rybak reveals infor...

• Portnov, collaborationist interrogator (played by Anatoliy Solonitsyn) — supporting

  Portnov is a former Soviet club-house director and children's choirmaster who becomes the local head of the Belarusian Auxiliary Police under German authority. He interrogates and oversees the torture...

• Avginya Demchikha, the mother (played by Lyudmila Polyakova) — supporting

  Avginya Demchikha is the mother of three young children whose home becomes a temporary shelter for the wounded Sotnikov and Rybak. Captured with them, she is imprisoned alongside the other detainees a...

• Basya Meyer, the girl (played by Viktoriya Goldentul) — supporting

  Basya Meyer is a young Jewish girl who has been hidden by a member of the village. She is discovered and imprisoned with Sotnikov, Rybak, Demchikha, and the headman. She is taken from the cellar with...

• German soldier, executioner (played by Aleksandr Pyatkov) — minor

  The German soldier identified as the executioner is associated with the final punishment imposed on the prisoners. After Sotnikov, Demchikha, Basya, and the village headman are removed from the cellar...

• Petr Sych, village elder (played by Sergei Yakovlev) — supporting

  Petr Sych is the village headman and collaborationist who is involved in the initial encounter when Sotnikov and Rybak take a farm animal. Later suspected of supporting the partisans, he is imprisoned...

• Village elder's wife (played by Mariya Vinogradova) — supporting

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Village elder's wife → Petr Sych, village elder (wife)
• Rybak → Portnov, collaborationist interrogator (Power Recruiter And Defector) — Portnov turns Rybak's desire to survive into collaboration by accepting his request to join the police.

  Portnov offers Rybak a job as a policeman. The next morning, Rybak begs Portnov to let him join the police, and Portnov allows it.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• German soldier, executioner → Petr Sych, village elder (Conflict Executioner And Prisoner) — The executioner is associated with the headman's final punishment after Sych is imprisoned with the others.

  The role description identifies the German soldier as the executioner associated with the captives being led away and hanged; the village headman is a...

• German soldier, executioner → Basya Meyer, the girl (Conflict Executioner And Prisoner) — The executioner is associated with Basya's execution after she is taken from the cellar with the other captives.

  The role description identifies the German soldier as the executioner associated with the captives being led away and hanged; Basya is among those pri...

• German soldier, executioner → Avginya Demchikha, the mother (Conflict Executioner And Prisoner) — The executioner is associated with Demchikha's final punishment after she is captured with the others.

  The role description identifies the German soldier as the executioner associated with the captives being led away and hanged; Demchikha is among those...

• German soldier, executioner → Sotnikov (Conflict Executioner And Prisoner) — The executioner is associated with the hanging of Sotnikov after his refusal to provide information under torture.

  The role description identifies this German soldier as the executioner associated with the final punishment, when Sotnikov and the other captives are...

• Rybak → Petr Sych, village elder (Conflict Captured Fellow Prisoners) — Rybak takes part in the encounter that deprives Sych of a farm animal, and later shares a cell with the headman after both are captured.

  Rybak accompanies Sotnikov when they take a farm animal from the village headman. Sych is later imprisoned with Rybak and the other captives.

• Sotnikov → Petr Sych, village elder (Conflict Captured Fellow Prisoners) — Their encounter begins with the partisans taking an animal from Sych; later, the suspected headman shares their imprisonment and execution fate.

  Sotnikov and Rybak take a farm animal from the village headman. Later, the headman, suspected of supporting the partisans, is imprisoned with them.

• Avginya Demchikha, the mother → Rybak (Alliance Shelter Provider) — Rybak relies on Demchikha's home as a place to shelter himself and the wounded Sotnikov; their refuge leads to her capture as well.

  Rybak brings Sotnikov to Demchikha's home, where the two men take shelter. Demchikha is captured along with them.

• Avginya Demchikha, the mother → Sotnikov (Alliance Shelter Provider) — Demchikha's home provides temporary refuge for the wounded Sotnikov, but the shelter is discovered and both are taken prisoner.

  Rybak takes the wounded Sotnikov to Demchikha's home, which serves as a temporary shelter. Demchikha is captured with him.

• Sotnikov → Portnov, collaborationist interrogator (Conflict Interrogator And Prisoner) — Portnov uses his authority to question and oversee the torture of Sotnikov, while Sotnikov refuses to provide information and tries to take responsibility for the other prisoners.

  Portnov interrogates Sotnikov, and collaborationist police torture him after he refuses to answer. Sotnikov later asks to speak with Portnov, who brus...

• Sotnikov → Rybak (Alliance Partisan Companions) — Their shared mission and Rybak's rescue bind them together, but their choices diverge under interrogation: Sotnikov refuses to give information while Rybak cooperates and later joins the police.

  The two Soviet partisans travel together to obtain food. After Sotnikov is wounded, Rybak rescues him from an attempted suicide and carries him to Dem...

Story Analysis

Two Soviet partisans face capture and diverging moral choices, ending in execution for the prisoners and despair for the survivor who collaborates.

Plot Progression

1. A Mission Through Winter — Sotnikov and Rybak seek food in a Belarusian village and take a farm animal from the headman. A German patrol spots them on their return, and a gunfight leaves Sotnikov wounded.
2. Flight Into Captivity — Sotnikov attempts suicide rather than be captured, but Rybak saves him and carries him to Demchikha's home. The shelter is discovered, and the three are taken prisoner.
3. Interrogation and Moral Choice — Portnov interrogates and oversees the torture of Sotnikov, who gives up no information. Rybak shares information he believes the police already know, hoping to survive, while the prisoners spend the n...
4. Execution and Aftermath — Sotnikov tries to accept responsibility, but Portnov dismisses his plea. Rybak joins the police, the other captives are hanged, and Rybak's attempted suicide ends in failure and anguished laughter and...