Viewed: 17 February 2006
Directed by: Jiri Menzel
Listed in: Movies, Other

Closely Watched Trains involves a shy virginal boy, who becomes an assistant Dispatcher at a sleepy, back-water depot in Czechoslovakia during WWII. It is a sly, slacker film, with no real emphasis on any of the plot lines. Milos Herma starts the film looking for a job that requires no real work, coming from a long line of lazy Hermas. He seems oblivious to the war or the occupation or the resistance, more taken by peeking through keyholes. He is however troubled by his impotence, to the point of a suicide attempt. Afterwards it seems more a technically then a real cry for help. I wanted to be smitten by Closely Watched Trains, but it seems I missed part of it on a level I didn’t even think about. It’s a film I will have to see again.