Ostre Sledované Vlaky (Closely Watched Trains) poster & wallpaper

Václav Neckár, Josef Somr, Vlastimil Brodský

Jiri Menzel's funny, tragic 1966 film, set during the years of Germany's occupation of Czechoslovakia, may be admired today more out of nostalgia than anything, but in fact it holds up very well as a ...( read more  read more... )wry satire from the years of the Czech New Wave. Vaclav Neckar stars as an unambitious youth whose chief preoccupation is a wish for sex, but who secondarily sees the draw of joining the organized Resistance movement. The latter, however, would require energy and focus, and Neckar's character--who does as little work as possible as an apprentice railway platform guard--prefers the inertia of his small-town depot. Spending his time observing the philandering of an older guard, keeping clear of his wild-eyed boss, and flirting with the female conductor of a passing train, the young hero has his priorities in order but must deal with an increasing responsibility to a larger rebellion. The film has a nice mix of rural lethargy, surreal hints, and comic knowingness about the landscape of teenage ambivalence. Finally, there is something else: the shock of a confrontation between dreams and real-world obligation, particularly in a world gone mad through no fault of one's own. --Tom Keogh

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89% liked it

3,795 ratings

Critics

100% liked it

13 critics

Unrated, 93 min.

Directed by: Jirí Menzel

Release Date: November 18, 1966

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DVD Release Date: September 18, 2001

Stats: 225 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (225)

  • flixsterman
    July 29, 2009
    flixsterman
    One of the key elements of a true classic it its ability to weather the ravages of time. Jiri Menzel's dark comedy, Closely Watched Trains, passes this test with flying colors. Menzel quietly lampoons teen angst in a manner that's unique and tragic. Viewers have been la...( read more)ughing at this one for forty (+) years and I suspect they'll still be finding humor and relevance in it for a long time to come.
  • hypathio7
    July 24, 2009
    hypathio7
    Overall the story was a little uneven. It had a different sense of humor than I'm used to, but I did find it to be very funny. It's a foreign film in black and white set during WWII, in some ways a simpler more innocent time, but it deals with sexual themes in a humorous way li...( read more)ke The Graduate or The 40 Year Old Virgin or even American Pie. There are probably some better examples of Hollywood copying this type of story, but I can't think of more off the top of my head right now.

    Milos gets his first job working as a train station dispatcher. It shouldn't require too much hard work and he wants it that way so he can uphold the family tradition. The two men he works for always have sex on their minds (well the boss is married and has to be careful, so he likes taking care of pigeons too). Most of the women who appear in the story are flirtatious and attractive, the sort to occupy young men's dreams. Milos actually has a budding relationship with Masa. She is a conductor for a train that regularly goes by the station, and like the slightly older more sexually aware professional women she is, she takes the lead in suggesting they spend the night together. When he gets nervous and can't perform, he becomes depressed and attempts suicide. The director, Jiri Menzel, plays a doctor who advises Milos that premature ejaculation is perfectly normal and to think about fútbol. The doctor also advises that he should find a much older experienced woman to break him in so he'll be ready for the next time with his girlfriend. Then a good part of the rest of the movie involves Milos trying to find an older willing woman.

    Meanwhile, the Nazis stop by a couple times too to spread propaganda about the Fuhrer's purpose being to help all humanity. There is an underground movement that sees an opportunity to have a bomb dropped on a German train carrying munitions through the station where Milos works. And through the sexual escapades of a couple of his coworkers providing a distraction this heavy responsibility falls on Milos. Like I said, there are a lot of funny situations that then abruptly surprise you with a few tragic occurrences.
  • jplong39
    January 8, 2009
    jplong39
    I wonderful Czech film from the mid-sixties that is both a warm-lighthearted coming of age comedy and a thinly veiled, biting social satire. Milos Hrma comes from a family that prides itself on doing nothing, and he inherits a post as assistant train dispatcher at the local train...( read more) station requiring no physical effort. While Nazis ravage the countryside, the station crew is mostly obsessed with petty personal aims. The station manager is fanatically dedicated to a meaningless post and his beloved pidgeons, Hubicka, an avid womanizer, and poor shy Milos, who spends the majority of the film in a life and death struggle with premature ejaculation. The lightheartedness is not without well placed critical barbs, coinciding with the traumatic post-adolescent efforts of a young man trying to become...a man. By the films end however, justice is served on the evildoers, and heroes abound throughout. Fine performances by everyone with good camera-work full of social commentary and sexual metaphors. I've seen this at least a dozen times and it never loses its effect.
  • HuskersNC949597
    September 10, 2009
    HuskersNC949597
    A bit hypersexual, but funny. Like American Pie, only less retarded.
  • 76Majikat
    August 10, 2009
    76Majikat
    Add a review (optional)...
  • rojastortu
    July 30, 2009
    rojastortu
    This has to be one of the most beautiful movies I've seen, both in the story and visually. Really sexy yet very tragic, the characters are very likeable and you would always want to know what is going to happen to them. I'll say it again: visually stunning!
  • bandeapartduo
    November 22, 2008
    bandeapartduo
    :) çekler i?i biliyordu.
  • sudhang
    November 10, 2008
    sudhang
    As a coming-of-age story, an "ordinary people's" look at WW2, a sex comedy or even as a tragedy, this film is a winner!

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