Cheap Closely Watched Trains (Video) (Václav Neckár, Josef Somr) (Jirí Menzel) Price

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Customer Reviews of Closely Watched Trains

So what caught my eye this first time? I think simply the quiet texture of the film is what I liked about it most---it captures the rhythms of this sleepy little town in an authentic manner. I was amused by the character of Milos Hrma: as WWII rages on around him, he focuses on not doing too much (as a wannabe train dispatcher, he doesn't have to do all that much) as well as losing his virginity. In other people, that would be called ignorance; in Milos' case, it's pure innocence. And I suppose it must have been a rather daring feat at the time (1966) for Menzel to juxtapose wry human comedy with the undertone of WWII. In short, I liked its insights into human nature, I liked its slow pace---nothing truly significant happens for most of the picture, and yet we're intrigued anyway---I enjoyed its subtle eroticism, and I was rather fascinated by the main character, even if he himself wasn't necessarily the most fascinating character around.

Maybe I'm just stupid, but I wasn't sure why such a big deal was made by the disciplinary commission over the stamping incident involving Zdenka and train dispatcher Hubicka. I'm sure perhaps Menzel was making some kind of sly, subtle political statement was being made there, but I'm not quite sure what exactly. That is why, if I ever get the chance to see this film again, I would not mind it to perhaps catch the nuances I missed this first time. Still, for my first viewing, I was, on the whole, charmed by the movie and genuinely shocked by its deliberately dark ending. On that basis, I recommend CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS---and i'm sure if I finally understand everything about the movie upon a second viewing, I might add a star to my current four-star rating.

Fantastic film !!!
I got an opportunity to see this film when I was in UK during 2001-'02. I have borrowed VHS cassette of this film from local library. Before that I have no idea about Czech new wave cinema or Jiri Menzel. After seeing this film, I could not able to resist myself to see this film again and again. The film script was well-written, fantastic performance by all actors especially the actor who acted as Milos. The photography is Black-White magic (nice DVD transfer - still you can see can the freshness of movie print). The music is also fantastic, especially the music which comes during the scene where Milos had taken by the SS Army people. Three months before I have been to USA and first thing I did was order this DVD in Amazon.com. I have seen this DVD 7-10 times after I bought this.

The "Czechs" in the mail...
This film was my introduction to Eastern European cinema and I was quite pleasantly surprised. Closely Watched Trains is a terrific coming of age story with plenty of humor thrown in along the way. On a deeper level, it expresses the problems with the Soviet occupation of the Czech republic after WWII. Thank goodness the censors weren't paying attention, or else we might never have had the chance to see this wonderful film. The image quality is excellent on this DVD transfer - there is hardly any grain and the film is wonderfully shot. I found myself empathizing with Milos by the end of the movie, and you will too!