Closely Watched Trains
1967
Directed by Jiri Menzel
Today when I went to tick this one off my List, I was surprised to see I already had. When did this happen? I watched the entire film yesterday without having a single instance of deja vu. I think I need to start doing memory exercises.
Milos is on his way to his first day of work as a station guard. He briefly tells us about the history of his family (which includes a particularly unfortunate hypnotist). He decided to become a station guard because he really just wanted to do nothing with his life but sit and watch other people work. He has a crush on a pretty train conductor, but has some...um...trouble performing. Does this sound like a Judd Apatow movie to you? It did to me...well, at least until the Nazis showed up.
I knew going in that a comedy from 1967 Czechoslovakia wouldn't exactly have me doubled over laughing. I was right on that score; I hardly even cracked a smile. So on that level the filmed failed for me, although I realize that that is not really the filmmakers' fault.
However, if I view this film as a drama, I enjoyed it quite a bit. The cinematography is absolutely beautiful and it managed to show the war in a way that didn't make caricatures out of anyone. Milos was a fun character to watch, even though his actions seemed a bit contrived at times.
I will enjoy the memory of this film until it goes away, which will apparently only be a few weeks.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
We got a horror film coming up next. Yay!
OK.. well, glad you found one of this bunch to be good. I quite liked it as well.. if calling it 'pleasant' doesn't sound too condemnatory with feint praise, I'd like to say that...
ReplyDeleteI think I will watch this because of your review. I like the idea of seeing a different view of the war and the beautiful cinematography. I may not remember it later, but I think i will give it a try. :)
ReplyDeleteThere was a deadpan element to this movie that made me only appreciate the jokes after they happened. Not sure if that is a good criteria, but consider the grandfather hypnotist. As the story was presented I was thinking: what?! Then afterwards I found it absolutely hilarious. And that is the film in a nutshell.
ReplyDeleteYeah it's difficult not to be delighted by this one!
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