{"id":114,"date":"2006-03-30T10:28:33","date_gmt":"2006-03-30T17:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=114"},"modified":"2021-01-08T12:58:29","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T19:58:29","slug":"closely-watched-trains-closely-observed-trains-1967","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=114","title":{"rendered":"Closely Watched Trains \/ Closely Observed Trains (1967)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Because that&#8217;s what the Fuhrer wants. But we must like each other, because we are all in the same boat.&#8221; <\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Closely-Watched-Trains-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Closely-Watched-Trains-Poster-192x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"192\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-21016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Closely-Watched-Trains-Poster-192x300.jpg 192w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Closely-Watched-Trains-Poster-81x128.jpg 81w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Closely-Watched-Trains-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn Czechoslovakia during World War II, a shy, bumbling railroad dispatcher (Vaclav Neckar) is more concerned with losing his virginity than with spotting espionage on passing trains. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong> <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Coming-of-Age<\/li>\n<li>Eastern European Films<\/li>\n<li>Trains and Subways<\/li>\n<li>Virginity<\/li>\n<li>World War Two<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review:<\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary notes, this Oscar-winning foreign film &#8212; &#8220;one of the landmarks of the brief Czech film renaissance&#8221; &#8212; offers a &#8220;beguiling mix of comedy&#8230; and jolting tragedy.&#8221; Full of &#8220;likeable, quirky characters, a strong sense of locale&#8230; and a great deal of charm,&#8221; the film functions as both a blackly humorous historical vignette and an ironic commentary on the travails of male adolescence. As in Jerzy Skolimowsky&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=931\"><em>Deep End<\/em> (1971)<\/a>, the story centers on a naive young teenager who is so obsessed with sex that it colors his entire impression of the world around him &#8212; and who is so distressed by his inability to &#8220;perform&#8221; sexually that he takes drastic action. The ultimate message, as Peary notes, is that males can &#8220;perform great acts of heroism&#8230; yet consider themselves failures as men if they get too anxious in bed to please a pretty flirt.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Vaclav Neckar as Milos<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Characters.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Characters.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-62301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Characters.jpg 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Characters-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Characters-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Characters-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Milos&#8217; charming yet tortured romance with a fellow conductor (Jitka Bendova)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Romance.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Romance.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-62302\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Romance.jpg 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Romance-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Romance-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Romance-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Ladies&#8217; man&#8221; Hubicka (Josef Somr) stamping the date up and down the legs of a willing young woman<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Stamping.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Stamping.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-62300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Stamping.jpg 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Stamping-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Stamping-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/CWT-Stamping-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. This is a must-see foreign gem.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Foreign Gem<\/li>\n<li>Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0060802\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1967\/10\/16\/archives\/the-screen-closely-watched-twins-begins-runyouths-story-entwined.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Because that&#8217;s what the Fuhrer wants. But we must like each other, because we are all in the same boat.&#8221; Synopsis: In Czechoslovakia during World War II, a shy, bumbling railroad dispatcher (Vaclav Neckar) is more concerned with losing his virginity than with spotting espionage on passing trains. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Black Comedy Coming-of-Age Eastern European Films Trains and Subways Virginity World War Two Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: As Peary notes, this Oscar-winning foreign film &#8212; &#8220;one of&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=114\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62304,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions\/62304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}