Pssst, want to check out Ostre sledované vlaky in our new look?
Information
- A.k.a.
- Closely Watched Trains
- Year
- 1966
- Runtime
- 92 min.
- Director
- Jirí Menzel
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Comedy, War
- Rating *
- 7.7
- Votes *
- 9,686
- Checks
- 2,778
- Favs
- 266
- Dislikes
- 23
- Favs/checks
- 9.6% (1:10)
- Favs/dislikes
- 12:1
Top comments
-
garvey
Funny and serious at the same time. Comedy and tragedy in one movie.
Very good. But to understand film one needs to feel like its characters.
And it's very Czech movie. 12 years 5 months ago -
Siskoid
When I watched Jiří Menzel's Capricious Summer the other day, I thought the humor was odd. His first (and Oscar-winning) feature, Closely Watched Trains, is more traditionally funny. Set during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia (but no doubt criticizing the Communist regime at the same time), our man Milos is by design a version of "The Good Soldier", from a family of "Good Soldiers", a character whose artful evasion of duty is apparently representative of the Czech national character. The film is really about impotence. Milos', who is despondent when he fails to make it with his girlfriend and watches trains go by without ever having ridden one (and when the Nazis put him on a train, they throw him off being going anywhere, and then there's the equally short trip in the climax). All acts of rebellion against the German regime are futile gestures in the end. So this to me is very much about the country itself, a country that had been under the thumb of other powers for as long as anyone remembered (Austria, Germany, the USSR), and powerless to do anything about it. Even the amusing subplot about the cousin sleeping with every girl in town and rubber-stamping them seems to speak to that idea of having several mistresses in succession. With a lot of comically erotic imagery (a hole in a couch, the neck of goose, etc.) and an older generation obsessed with the decline of morals, this is a sex comedy that's really about national character, of the kind Menzel could only make during the relaxed period that gave us the Czech New Wave. 4 years 4 months ago -
Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!In 14 official lists
-
This movie ranks #8 in Golden Foundation of Czech and Slovak Cinema
Golden Foundation of Cze…
8 -
This movie ranks #20 in Academy Award - Best International Feature Film
Academy Award - Best Int…
20 -
This movie ranks #34 in Stanley Kubrick, Cinephile
Stanley Kubrick, Cinephi…
34 -
This movie ranks #45 in 101 War Movies You Must See Before You Die
101 War Movies You Must …
45 -
This movie ranks #54 in Empire's The 100 Best Films of World Cinema
Empire's The 100 Best Fi…
54 -
This movie ranks #64 in Academy Award - Best International Feature Film Nominees
Academy Award - Best Int…
64 -
This movie ranks #151 in The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
151 -
This movie ranks #224 in Geoff King's Film Comedy
Geoff King's Film Comedy
224 -
This movie ranks #289 in UNESCO's Memory of the World
UNESCO's Memory of the W…
289 -
This movie ranks #448 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See…
448 -
This movie ranks #518 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…
518 -
This movie ranks #668 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
The Guardian's 1000 Film…
668 -
This movie ranks #741 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
Halliwell's Top 1000: Th…
741 -
This movie ranks #956 in Sight & Sound's The Greatest Films of All Time
Sight & Sound's The Grea…
956