Closely Watched Trains
1966 ‘Ostře sledované vlaky’ Directed by Jiří Menzel
Synopsis
Oscar for best foreign film in 1967
Closely Watched Trains is a Czech film that won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1967. Director Jirí Menzel unfolds an antiwar comedy set during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia about the story of young boy named Milos who has a job at a small Czech train station and falls in love with the beautiful Masa.
Cast
Popular reviews
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Part of Lise and Jonnie’s What A Wonderful World: May 30 days, 30 countries.
Film 1 – May 1 - Czechoslovakia
I don’t know if I’m ready to declare Closely Watched Trains a masterpiece yet, but, I’m pretty close.
Guised as a coming of age story of a young man, Milos Hrma, it is really the coming of age story of a country. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film so filled with metaphor and sly social criticism. Sardonic humor is ever-present, and is so dry it will turn you to dust.
Set against the backdrop of Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, we are introduced to Milos and his family. We hear that others in the ‘town’ often laugh at Milo’s…
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Part of the 30 countries festival. Czechoslovakia
I tried but I can't do justice to this film based on a single viewing.The more I try the more I realize how brilliant it is. The film presents itself as a simple, light, humourous coming of age story of Milos Hrma who works at a train station and falls for a fellow co-worker. But it is anything but.
I know that it mirrors the political situation in occupied Czechoslovakia at the time, but whenever I try to describe how I am stumped. Not because it is difficult to see, but because I believe there isn't just one extra layer of meaning but multiple layers.
It isn't just the story of an…
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'Closely Watched Trains' is a peculiar little film. It is possibly the least dramatic wartime film I've ever seen but it is so endearing and sweet that one can't help but enjoy it. That said, it does have its less light-hearted moments which tend to catch you off guard, as they are played in such a simple way that it's often easy to miss the seriousness of those scenes.
The loose plot of 'Trains' follows a beginner train dispatcher as he discovers his sexual inadequacies. I can pretty much stop there as that demonstrates pretty clearly that this isn't your average war film. Milos Hrma, played fantastically by Václav Neckár, is an incredibly naive and sweet character, and his bluntness…
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Berken's May 30 Days, 30 Countries Challenge Film nº 11 - Czechoslovakia
Closely Watched Trains follows Milos, a young man working as an apprentice at a train station, in german occupied Czechoslovakia in WW2. We see him trying to "become a man" with his girlfriend, only to frustratingly discover that he suffers from premature ejaculation.
This is a light movie about a boy growing up, surrounded by sexual imagery everywhere while he tries to become a part of this world, but this is only to deceive us, as the true dramatic story about an occupied country goes on.
Although I understand the greatness of this film, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I was a bit disappointed maybe because of all the praise I read in other reviews didn't really meet my expectations. It's definitely a good movie, but not exactly my cup of tea.
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What a charming, lovable film. It’s so fanciful and quirky and disarming in the beginning, that the other, darker, sadder things catch you completely off guard. A great portrait of sexually frustrated, head-scratching young manhood, I think. Not that I would really know. In any case, I loved it.
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Wonderful Czech film that won best foreign language at the Oscars that year. Charming and humorous.
Who knew a story set in a small dreary train station during the second World War could be so sexy and funny!
Really enjoyed this.
Recent reviews
More-
Berken's May 30 Days, 30 Countries Challenge Film nº 11 - Czechoslovakia
Closely Watched Trains follows Milos, a young man working as an apprentice at a train station, in german occupied Czechoslovakia in WW2. We see him trying to "become a man" with his girlfriend, only to frustratingly discover that he suffers from premature ejaculation.
This is a light movie about a boy growing up, surrounded by sexual imagery everywhere while he tries to become a part of this world, but this is only to deceive us, as the true dramatic story about an occupied country goes on.
Although I understand the greatness of this film, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I was a bit disappointed maybe because of all the praise I read in other reviews didn't really meet my expectations. It's definitely a good movie, but not exactly my cup of tea.
-
Part of the 30 countries festival. Czechoslovakia
I tried but I can't do justice to this film based on a single viewing.The more I try the more I realize how brilliant it is. The film presents itself as a simple, light, humourous coming of age story of Milos Hrma who works at a train station and falls for a fellow co-worker. But it is anything but.
I know that it mirrors the political situation in occupied Czechoslovakia at the time, but whenever I try to describe how I am stumped. Not because it is difficult to see, but because I believe there isn't just one extra layer of meaning but multiple layers.
It isn't just the story of an…
-
Part of Lise and Jonnie’s What A Wonderful World: May 30 days, 30 countries.
Film 1 – May 1 - Czechoslovakia
I don’t know if I’m ready to declare Closely Watched Trains a masterpiece yet, but, I’m pretty close.
Guised as a coming of age story of a young man, Milos Hrma, it is really the coming of age story of a country. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film so filled with metaphor and sly social criticism. Sardonic humor is ever-present, and is so dry it will turn you to dust.
Set against the backdrop of Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, we are introduced to Milos and his family. We hear that others in the ‘town’ often laugh at Milo’s…
-
'Closely Watched Trains' is a peculiar little film. It is possibly the least dramatic wartime film I've ever seen but it is so endearing and sweet that one can't help but enjoy it. That said, it does have its less light-hearted moments which tend to catch you off guard, as they are played in such a simple way that it's often easy to miss the seriousness of those scenes.
The loose plot of 'Trains' follows a beginner train dispatcher as he discovers his sexual inadequacies. I can pretty much stop there as that demonstrates pretty clearly that this isn't your average war film. Milos Hrma, played fantastically by Václav Neckár, is an incredibly naive and sweet character, and his bluntness…
-
What a charming, lovable film. It’s so fanciful and quirky and disarming in the beginning, that the other, darker, sadder things catch you completely off guard. A great portrait of sexually frustrated, head-scratching young manhood, I think. Not that I would really know. In any case, I loved it.
-
Wonderful Czech film that won best foreign language at the Oscars that year. Charming and humorous.
Who knew a story set in a small dreary train station during the second World War could be so sexy and funny!
Really enjoyed this.
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Literaturverfilmung von 1966 nach Vorlage des gleichnamigen Romans von Buhumil Hrabal (die zweite Verfilmung eines seiner Werke von Menzel) für den der noch nicht 30jährige Menzel einen Oscar erhält.
Es ist die Geschichte eines pubertären Jungen, der hinaus in die Welt geschickt wird, um als ausgelernter Schranken
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Humorous film set in a unique location.
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A charming adaptation of the Bohumil Hrabal novel that prefigures later classics such as The Station Agent - there is something about sleepy trackside life that makes for good cinema. There is an atmosphere of high farce and the absurd that one associates with the country but this is all the more remarkable given this was filmed in Communist times.
It probably pased the censors because the Nazis get a bashing - more than one infact as it turns out- and the film provides a few tips on potential new uses for rubber stamps.