Closely Watched Trains ( Ostre sledované vlaky ) Movie Information

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Movie Information

Overall Rank: 5979

Average Rating: 2.7/4

# of Ratings: 21

Theatrical Release Date: 10/15/1967

Language: German

Genre: Comedy, Drama

MPAA Rating: NR

Director: Jirí Menzel

Actors: Václav Neckár, Josef Somr, Vlastimil Brodský, Vladimír Valenta, Alois Vachek, Ferdinand Kruta

Plot: An oblivious young man works at a train depot in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during WWII and seeks out his first sexual experience.

FilmCrave User - wrote on 11/13/2020

Closely Watched Trains has been described as a "gently stated sense of the absurd"and "reminiscent of the Czech New Wave of the 60's". The movie is basically a young man's coming of age story during a harrowing time. The opening scene explains a bit where the main characters final act of heroism comes from (his grandfather tries to use hypnosis to stop the German invasion) . Humor is absurdly used throughout this film somewhat in the same way as in "Life Is Beautiful". It's hard to imagine how you can make a humorous movie about this time in history, but the heroic acts intertwined in both of those movies shows you that it can be done in the hands of the right filmmaker.

Tammy - wrote on 11/11/2020

Very emotional film about a young boy's coming-of-age in war torn Europe. The depth of each character helps the viewer live many of the physical and psychological moments of the time. The new wave film era is very different than what we are accustomed to. It may be difficult for the American viewer to understand why the tragic events of the film are portrayed in the manner in which they are.

Filmhog - wrote on 09/14/2009

I loved the novel (by Bohumil Hrabal) on which this film was based, so I was really eager to see it. Unfortunately, it lacked the wit that I remembered from the book and instead turned out to be little more than a rather juvenile sex comedy.

Jacob Ward
Rising Star

Czech New Wave Cinema Overview

Jacob Ward - wrote on 11/11/2020

Closely Watched Trains is an international Czech new wave film that pushes the boundaries of the normal film experience. With the use of absurdism and surrealism, Jiri Menzel creates a great masterpiece.

The opening scene is one of the most important aspects of the film since it portrays the film theories well. The part where Milos is referring to his grandfather Vilem, the hypnotist, he mentions how he tried to stop a military tank using hypnotism. What is interesting about this concept is that Czech new wave cinema uses comedy in a different light than most film eras. Usually comedy is shown through other scenarios in this theory compared to other cinema styles.

The ending seemed to be very dark, but the experience watching the film was unlike anything I have seen before. This …