Closely Watched Trains [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Czech director Jiri Menzel's Closely Watched Trains (Ostre sledovane vlaky) was the recipient of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1967. In the story, based on Bohumil Hrabal's novel of the same name, Vaclav Neckar plays a Czech railroad worker during the Nazi occupation. He undergoes several philosophical changes as he becomes attracted to the Czech underground. Determining at last that his own existence hardly matters in the scheme of things, Neckar volunteers for a suicide mission. Ordered by the Czech Communist government to return his Oscar, Menzel refused, opting instead to make a "repentance" film which sang the praises of collectivism. This second film has long since been forgotten, while Closely Watched Trains remains on record as one of the biggest financial successes of the Eastern European Cinema. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: PCM Mono
• Screen: Black and White
• Subtitle: English

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Foreign Language Film - 1967 (Jirí Menzel)

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Nominated Best Picture - 1968 (Jirí Menzel)

• Directors Guild of America

•     Nominated Best Director - 1968 (Jirí Menzel)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Foreign Film - Foreign Language - 1967

• Telluride Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 1986
•     Film Presented - 1979

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Jirí Menzel

• Producer:

  Zdenek Oves

• Screenwriter:

  Jirí Menzel, Bohumil Hrabal

• Book Author:

  Bohumil Hrabal

• Cinematographer:

  Jaromir Sofr

• Composer (Music Score):

  Jiri Sust

• Editor:

  M.A. Gebert, Jirina Lukesova

• Art Director:

  Oldrich Bosak

• Set Designer:

  Jiri Cvrcek

• Costume Designer:

  Olga Dimitrov, Ruzena Bulickova

REVIEW:

• Ostre sledované vlaky is a rarity -- a internationally acknowledged masterpiece made in a Communist-dominated country at the height of the Cold War. Set in Czechoslovakia during the Nazi occupation, the film nonetheless has a light-hearted tone seldom found in films set in so grim a time. The protagonist, a young railway worker named Milos (Vaclav Neckar), goes through many normal coming-of-age events and a few abnormal ones: volunteering for suicide missions could easily put a halt to further maturity. The film was more popular with international critics than with Czech government officials, who were openly disdainful of the acclaim that it received. Honors collected by Ostre sledované vlaky included a Best Foreign Language Oscar, where it won over another Communist-made film, Skupljaci Perjathe, a Romany-language motion picture produced by Yugoslavia. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi