Ostre sledované vlaky

When I saw this film, about twenty years ago, I knew nothing about Bohumil Hrabal, the author of the novel, and Jiri Menzel, the director. Later I knew about the situation that many talented people went through in Czechoslovakia after "The Prague springtime" and the invasion of the country by the soviet tanks in 1968. Now I am a fan of the czech sense of humour but I still remember that evening twenty years ago when I saw what was probably my first czech film and the enormous pleasure that causes me this almost perfect movie.

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.

Closely Watched Trains is my favorite movie ever. It is 90 minutes of cinematic perfection: funny, sad, exquisitely shot, beautiful to look at (watch it twice, so that the second time around you can focus on Menzel's genius in composing his shots), and insightful--profound, even. Its structure will make any film student drool with envy. The acting is flawless, particularly the performance by Josef Somr as train-dispatcher Hubicka. Please resist any impulse to see it as a "political" film--it is nothing of the sort. It's just a beautiful work of art. Note: Closely Watched Trains won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1967.

I saw this film at film-school. Ever since, I have rated this film as one of the very best, its beauty, seriousness, sensualism and cinematography. It is all black and white, but so full of life. I am myself a cinematographer today.

Try to watch it.

The reason to watch "Closely watched trains" again was the death of Jiri Menzel in september 2020. Jiri Menzel was part of the Czech new wave in the early '60s, of which Milos Forman was the main protagonist. The films of the directors of this movement were often not explicit political, but implicit they were socially critical nonetheless.

In both "Closely watched trains" and "The Firemen's Ball" (1967, Forman) the comrades are far from model workers. They prefer to be lazy above being tired. This is beautifully illustrated in the beginning scene of "Closely watched trains" in which main character Milos Hrma (Vaclav Neckar) prepares for his first working day on a minor train station, a job he selected because of the expected lack of workload.

In 1966 Menzel was not blamed for the implicit criticism in "Closely watched trains". In the first place the "Spring of Prague" was still going on and in the second place the story was situated during the Second World War and not during Communist domination. The situation had totally changed when "Larks on a string" (1969) was released. This time the "Spring of Prague" was over after the invasion in 1968 and the story was situated after the "liberation" from the Germans. After "Larks on a string" the career of Menzel came to a standstill. Worth mentioning is that both films were based on a novel by Bohumil Hrabal. Menzel liked to adapt books of this author to the screen.

Having not much to do during working hours, there is a lot of flirtation on the workplace. We can see that in "Loves of blonde" (1965, Milos Forman) as well as in "Closely watched trains". This is were the problems for Milos begin, because he suffers from premature ejaculation. This gives rise to performance anxiety towards that nice conductress he has an eye on. During the whole film there are sexual undertones, such as in the scene in which a peasant woman feeds up a goose by massaging his neck.

The combination of war time and coming of age shares "Closely watched trains" with "Lacombe Lucien" (1974, Louis Malle). In "Lacombe Lucien" the boy chooses the part of the Germans and abuses the power he obtained in this way against a Jewish girl. In "Closely watched trains" the boy choose to cooperatie with the resistance to prove that he is a real man. The end of the film is tragic and contrasts strongly with the bittersweet tone of the rest of the movie.