Closely Watched Trains

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.

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.

It's amazing just how many visual sex metaphors director Jirí Menzel managed to cram into 92 minutes, without ever becoming ridiculous or losing the plot. It makes Hitchcock's train going into the tunnel shot from 'North By Northwest' look like the work of a rank amateur.

Ostensibly 'Closely Watched Trains' is the story of Trainee Milos Hrma (Václav Neckár) starting his job at the local train station during the Nazi occupation of what was then Czechoslovakia (only I guess it wasn't, because it was officially absorbed by the Reich). Throughout most of the film the war, complete with what the local Nazi functionary describes as "beautiful tactical withdrawals," is a long way off and Milos has more important matters to attend to. Specifically he's trying to lose his virginity and deal with another problem common to young men everywhere, one which the local doctor advises him to solve by thinking about football during critical moments.

Made in 1966, when some Czechs were clearly already looking ahead to 1968's Prague Spring, the film slyly uses the Nazis as a stand-in for the Soviets. As proof of this, and the Hollywood establishment's anti-Communist bent in the late 60s, 'Closely Watched Trains' won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1968. It is, however, imminently deserving of the win on its own merits.

History lessons aside 'Closely Watched Trains' is beautifully shot, well acted, and absurdly hilarious, while still tasting of tragedy. Excellent.

Hello In the discussion of sex and the young man's preoccupation with his personal life, his attempted suicide and the image of him being saved is often overlooked. The formation of his body as he is carried away from his death is in the shape of Michaelangelo's Pieta. In my mind, at least, this image ties his willingness to ultimately sacrifice his self-absorption for the greater good to that of the Christ.

Even his quest for sexual satisfaction is fulfilled by putting his own needs on hold to contribute to the Resistance. A collaborating agent ensures that his needs are fulfilled, perhaps knowing better than he the risk that he will be taking.

I suppose that image stuck with me having been raised Christian and also one who embraced art through the ages, but it touched me because it reminded me that we who live ordinary, simple, and seemingly unfulfilled lives may be called upon to do more...and in answering the call, do great and necessary things.

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.