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!
