At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war and the resistance that surrounds him, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery, encountering a universe of frustration, eroticism, and adventure within his sleepy backwater depot.
Václav Neckář Jitka Scoffin Vladimír Valenta Libuše Havelková Josef Somr Alois Vachek Jitka Zelenohorská Vlastimil Brodský Ferdinand Krůta Květa Fialová Naďa Urbánková Jiří Menzel Václav Fišer Karel Hovorka Jiří Kodet František Husák Jiří Hálek Miloslav Homola Pavla Maršálková Milada Ježková Dagmar Zikánová Bohumil Koška Antonín Pražák Václav Kotva Emil Iserle Ivan Sova Vladimír Hrabánek František Marek Jana Hana Duffková Show All…
Scharf beobachtete Züge, Closely Observed Trains, 严密看管的列车, Hou de Trein in het Oog, Szigorúan Ellenőrzött Vonatok, 가까이서 본 기차, Liebe nach Fahrplan, Szigorúan ellenőrzött vonatok, Поезда под пристальным наблюдением, Tarkoin vartioidut junat, Treni strettamente sorvegliati, Trenes rigurosamente vigilados, 严密监视的列车, Trains étroitement surveillés, Trens Estreitamente Vigiados, Строго охранявани влакове, Pociągi pod specjalnym nadzorem, 嚴密監視的列車, Låt tågen gå!, Поїзди під пильним спостереженням, Ostře sledované vlaky, Trenuri bine păzite, Sıkı Kontrol Edilen Trenler, רכבות שמורות היטב, Ο Άνθρωπος που Έβλεπε τα Τρένα να Περνούν
USA
Festival of Czechoslovak Cinema, Museum of Modern Art, NYC
USA
FinlandK-16
Greece
South Korea15
Netherlands6
Finland
Greece
Netherlands
South Korea
USA
this was one of those weird and wonderful films that you just know you’re not going to get out of your head for weeks to come.
and despite its surface being so light and carefree, the depths of it go beyond anything i often see in cinema for such a film.
….
innocence is retained under an oblivious young boys acceptance of the war around him, and his harnessing of it to become his friend rather then his enemy.
it may seem cliched, and slightly ridiculous, when put that way, but there was such an unfounded beauty in the way that self-discovery had been plastered over a backdrop of such horrors and baseless depravity. when the world seems to be…
I'm surprised that Wes Anderson hasn't listed this as one of his favorite films!!
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…
Attaining the status of being both touching and humorous, Closely Watched Trains is one of the pinnacles of the Czech New Wave film movement. It's the minor moments within a variety of scenes that director Jiří Menzel employs to deliver some profound meaning in this coming-of-age tale based on Bohumil Hrabal’s novel about an apprentice railway signalman working at a station, with a strange collection of co-workers, in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during WWII.
It interchangeably develops between moments of solemnity to periods of comedic embarrassment, and it's unwaveringly a tonal accomplishment which unfolds with the velocity of a gentle wind rather than through any aggressive examinations in the patterns of behaviour from its characters. It almost wholly takes place at the train station with a witty attitude and a frivolity which nurtures a charming tendency for serenity and a carefully proportionate underlying mood of bleakness.
The idea of sexual impotence as a wider metaphor is a little too blunt and masculine for my tastes, but this film manages to overcome that in many ways. The humor in the film is sly, well crafted, and often silly, and the general commentary--about Czechoslovakia's, or about humanity's, maturation, in a manner of speaking--is at least appealing, if crudely yet elegantly told. The young lead is incredibly charming, and the dark tragedies in the film are all the more potent for the comedic tone that surrounds them.
There are a number of rather stunning shots in the film that stood out as well. There's a moment... someone? opens a large gate, and he looks out on a wide vista,…
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. 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 occupied…
When Viktoria and Milos finally speak before she gives him his first sexual experience, Milos asks who Viktoria is. Rather than say she is a resistance fighter, she introduces herself as a circus performer. Then she asks who Milos is. Rather than introduce himself as a train-watcher, or even ramble on about his family like he does at the beginning of the film, he says with complete earnestness that he is a premature ejaculator. No comment is made, they are pleased to meet each other, and they accept each other openly and have a happy time together.
I think that's a very beautiful moment.
A unique film with peculiar rhythms in which the coming of age narrative of a boy is used as a wider metaphor for political growth, or the path of a nation. This is a film about the temptation for passivity and the complications that brings, a subtle call to action for an oppressed people - a reflection on a nation hidden behind a thin veneer of historical allegory.
There are blunt edges here which distance me - the treatment of impotence becomes tiresome and overwhelms too much of the film - but there are also potent parts that bristle with wider potential.
Ultimately, I find a lot to admire here. It is a beautifully shot and classily composed picture that…
Jirí Menzel puts the Czech New Wave in the map of international celluloid with this provocative, luscious and sophisticated analysis of teen angst during wartime. A wonderful photography and a brilliant script, to say the least. Screw American Pies for a second or shameful deliveries that try to deal with male's idiocy regarding his penis. Ostre Sledované Vlaky puts a new standard in adolescent awkwardness in the most inappropriate chaotic setting, among drastic decisions and subtle and sexy hilarity. A unique project.
98/100
