Ostre sledované vlaky (1966) YTS

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 7 / 10

“Milos” (Václav Neckár) is about to start his

“Milos” (Václav Neckár) is about to start his new job as a trainee dispatcher on the Czech railways, and is proudly sporting his new uniform as he proudly arrives for duty. He is to work with “Hubicka” (Josef Somr) who has a penchant for the ladies and that merely serves to remind our young man that as yet, he has only very limited experience with the opposite sex. That’s despite some obvious flirting with “Mása” (Jitka Scoffin) who clearly has designs on his body! It’s late one evening and they manage to get some time together, alone and intimate - but something goes wrong! Next thing, the now totally dejected “Milos” is resorting to drastic action… Then we discover that his doctor has diagnosed something that is going to need his friends to help him out with, discretely. All the while, the Nazis have been making their presence felt and with an enormous ammunition train due to pass through their station, the staff have decided that they need to do their bit for the war effort! The arrival of their supervisor on the big day to investigate some inappropriate rubber-stamping adds even more pressure to the staff as lots of pots seem to come to the boil at once. Neckár is on great form here. He manages to convey the naïveté of his character with an aplomb that marries the gently written and delivered comedy here with his own anxieties about sex - which easily outweigh those he has about sabotaging any enemy train. Somr (who did remind me a lot of Peter Sellars) is also on great form as the mischief making couch scratcher and the underplayed wartime menace adds a little to the richness of this characterful drama where great pride is taken in meticulously turning up for work to follow in family traditions. I didn’t exactly love the ending, but it’s still a fitting conclusion for a story about so many young men in wartime whose more natural priorities in life were often upturned by events outwith their control.

Reviewed by ww_sketcher 9 / 10

Stamp of Excellence

Closely Watched Trains is a a film to be watched again and again.It's a coming-of-age type story that delves into the viewers psyche, young Milos who has some troubles with his girlfriend, seems to have this dwell on his life. And the world around him reacts, from the woman riding a horse to steam coming out of the train, the woman working her baking, and simply the movement of young Milos becoming a man in his own sense.But this film isn't just a sexual innuendo, smart comedy presides through it all which most anyone can pick up on, a lot of it is sexual but not all. Making it a surprisingly upbeat film throughout, a rarity not just in a War film, but Czech cinema in general. This may make it sound a bit too happy but it definitely isn't. It's still a moving piece that demands repetitive watches.Recommended for anyone with an interest in classic European cinema. If you are going to start watching Czech films, start with Closely Watched Trains.

Reviewed by Ham_and_Egger 9 / 10

"Do you know what Czechs are? Laughing animals."

It's amazing just how many visual sex metaphors director Jirí Menzel managed to cram into 92 minutes, without ever becoming ridiculous or losing the plot. It makes Hitchcock's train going into the tunnel shot from 'North By Northwest' look like the work of a rank amateur.Ostensibly 'Closely Watched Trains' is the story of Trainee Milos Hrma (Václav Neckár) starting his job at the local train station during the Nazi occupation of what was then Czechoslovakia (only I guess it wasn't, because it was officially absorbed by the Reich). Throughout most of the film the war, complete with what the local Nazi functionary describes as "beautiful tactical withdrawals," is a long way off and Milos has more important matters to attend to. Specifically he's trying to lose his virginity and deal with another problem common to young men everywhere, one which the local doctor advises him to solve by thinking about football during critical moments.Made in 1966, when some Czechs were clearly already looking ahead to 1968's Prague Spring, the film slyly uses the Nazis as a stand-in for the Soviets. As proof of this, and the Hollywood establishment's anti-Communist bent in the late 60s, 'Closely Watched Trains' won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1968. It is, however, imminently deserving of the win on its own merits.History lessons aside 'Closely Watched Trains' is beautifully shot, well acted, and absurdly hilarious, while still tasting of tragedy. Excellent.

Ostre sledované vlaky

1966 [CZECH]

Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance / War

Ostre sledované vlaky

1966 [CZECH]

Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance / War

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Movie Reviews

“Milos” (Václav Neckár) is about to start his

Stamp of Excellence

"Do you know what Czechs are? Laughing animals."

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