Closely Watched Trains

1966 Czechoslovak film directed by Jiří Menzel

Film · TMDB

7.2

At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war and the resistance that surrounds him, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery, encountering a universe of frustration, eroticism, and adventure within his sleepy backwater depot.

Released: 1966-11-1893 minDir: Jiří MenzelComedy, Drama, War

Cast

Václav Neckář as Trainee Milos Hrma
Jitka Scoffin as Conducteress Masa
Vladimír Valenta as Stationmaster Max
Libuše Havelková as Max's wife
Josef Somr as Train dispatcher Hubicka
Alois Vachek as Novak

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Ratings

IMDb

7.6/10

Article

Closely Watched Trains (Czech: Ostře sledované vlaky) is a 1966 Czechoslovak coming-of-age comedy film. Directed by Jiří Menzel, it is one of the best-known films of the Czechoslovak New Wave. It was released in the United Kingdom as Closely Observed Trains. It is a story about a young man working at a train station in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II. The film is based on a 1965 novella by Bohumil Hrabal. It was produced by Barrandov Studios and filmed on location in Central Bohemia. Released outside Czechoslovakia during 1967, it received widespread acclaim and won the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968. Nowadays the movie is assessed as one of the finest works of the Czech New Cinema.

Plot