One of the most cherished Czechoslovak films of the 1960s. Ostře sledované vlaky (1966) was the recipient of the 1968 Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Similarly, this feature-film debut of director Jiří Menzel is also celebrated at home as a milestone of cinema, and as one of the key films of the New Wave. The legendary adaptation of an exuberant, yet delicate 1965 novella by Bohumil Hrabal tells the coming-of-age story of the young and inexperienced Miloš Hrma, serving as a station guard in central Bohemia at the close of the Second World War. Rather than taking an interest in the impending collapse of Nazi Germany, the timid young man focuses his attentions on women – as he seeks to lose his virginity and become a man. The lovely conductor Máša becomes the target of his efforts. Miloš’s colleagues, the station chief and dispatcher, may be opposed in spirit to the Nazi occupation, but given the tough penalties for resistance, choose to focus instead on day-to-day personal affairs. But among the duties of the railway staff is the requirement that they pay special attention to “closely watched trains” carrying armaments to the front. Ultimately, even Miloš ends up faced by a moment in which he has to partake in the “bigger” historical picture. Hrabal’s slender novella appealed to director Menzel for its unorthodox take on the war. As a film, Ostře sledované vlaky serves as a key 1960s step in de-mythologising the issue of the anti-Nazi resistance (hitherto a cornerstone of communist propaganda). Menzel’s simple story benefits considerably from the sensitive black and white cinematography of cameraman Jaromír Šofr. Twenty-three-year-old singer Václav Neckář delivers an exceptional performance as the charming and naive Miloš. Also offering an outstanding performance is Josef Somr, who plays Hubička, a train dispatcher who is the hedonistic lover of telegraphist Zdenička (in a famous scene Hubička imprints her thighs and buttocks with the office’s rubber stamps). The then 27-year-old director Menzel appears in the role of psychiatrist Brabec. The original credits neglected to mention that the role of the chicken thief was played by actor, playwright and dissident Pavel Landovský.
It is the Second World War and Germany is losing on all fronts. The young Miloš Hrma has begun a training on probation in a small railway station. The station master, a passionate pigeon-breeder, has a kind wife, but is nevertheless envious of the train dispatcher Hubička's success with women. Miloš's still-platonic love is the pretty train dispatcher Máša. The experienced Hubička introduces Miloš to the facts of life, at the same time learning that the young man is still a male virgin. The idyll at the railway station is disturbed by the arrival of councillor Zednicek who explains to the employees that the withdrawal of the German army at all fronts is part of the military plan and the German army is in fact winning. Máša spends a night of love with Miloš. His experience of a sexual failure, he solve with attempting to commit suicide the next day. He is saved and the doctor explains to him that the phenomenon called ejaculatio praecox is normal at his age, recommending he get help from an experienced woman. During the night shift, Hubička flirts with the telegraphist Zdenička, covering her little bottom with official rubber-stamps. The girl's mother complains to Hubička's superiors. Due to the scandal, the station master is not promoted to the position of inspector as he desired. The Germans are nervous since the partisans keep blowing up their ammunition trains on the Czech railways. One of the planned acts of sabotage concerns the little railway station, too. At Hubička's request, Miloš is relieved from his male virginity problems by the young artiste Viktoria Freie who, at the same time, has brought a bomb to the station. In the state of emergency, the encouraged young man plants the explosive himself. The action is successful and the transport is blown up. But the young man dies, too.
The premiere has taken place outside Prague in Loděnice in 26. 8. 1966.
železničářský elév Miloš Hrma, záškolák
konduktérka Máša
přednosta stanice
přednostova žena
výpravčí Ladislav Hubička
staniční pomocník Novák
telegrafistka Zdenička Svatá
rada Zednicek
fotograf Noneman, Mášin strýc
hraběnka
Viktoria Freie
psychiatr MUDr. Brabec
zedník
hradlař
příslušník SS
příslušník SS
zapisovatel u soudu
krejčí
Milošova matka
Zdeniččina matka
pokojská v hodinovém hotelu
kontrolor
kontrolor
kontrolor
soudce
prokurátor
železničář
četnický strážmistr
ošetřovatelka
voják
velitel transportu
sestřenka
zákazník
zákaznice fotoateliéru
zákaznice fotoateliéru
vandrák
četník
strojvůdce Kníže
hotelová dívka
Němec
Němka
četník
Voice by Josef Abrhám
farář
Milošův otec
příslušník wehrmachtu
řidič drezíny
muž na fotografii
Bohumil Hrabal (Ostře sledované vlaky – novela)
Jiří Cvrček, Jiří Drégr (rekvizitář), Vladimír Ježek (rekvizitář)
Otakar Jiříček, Jaroslav Vágner
Ctibor Jeřábek, Emanuela Peterová (sekretářka produkce)
J. Šimák, plk. František Golyšev
Emanuela Peterová (klapka), Jiří Stach (fotograf), Bohumil Cajthaml, zaměstnanci ČSD železniční stanice Loděnice
Ferenc Liszt (Preludia /Les Préludes/)
FISYO (Music Conducted by Štěpán Koníček), Ústřední hudba Československé lidové armády (Music Conducted by Eduard Kudelásek)
Song Composer Leopold Korbař
Writer of Lyrics Jaroslav Moravec
Singer R. A. Dvorský
Song Composer Jára Beneš
Writer of Lyrics Vladimír Rohan
Singer Karel Lamač
Song Composer Jiří Srnka
Writer of Lyrics K. M. Walló
Singer Míla Spazierová-Hezká
Ostře sledované vlaky
Ostře sledované vlaky
Closely Watched Trains
film
featuretheatrical distribution
tragicomedy, war
Czechoslovakia
1966
1966
literary Screenplay approved 3 December 1965
technical Screenplay approved 25 January 1966
start of filming 7 February 1966
end of filming 14 June 1966
projection approval 22 August 1966
withdrawal from distribution 6 April 1973
withdrawal from distribution 31 March 1994
the end of the distribution monopoly 31 December 2014
preview 26 August 1966 (Loděnice)
premiere 14 October 1966 /unsuitable for youths/ (kina 64 U Hradeb /½ týdne/, Jalta /11 týdnů od 21. 10./, Dukla /1 týden od 2. 12./, Květen /1 týden od 9. 12./, Revoluce /1 týden 16. 12./ a Flora /1 týden od 30. 12./, Praha
)
premiere 18 November 1966 /unsuitable for youths/ (celostátní)
renewed premiere 12 April 1968 /unsuitable for youths/
renewed premiere 16 November 1979 /unsuitable for youths/
renewed premiere 31 July 2014 /unsuitable for children under 12/
renewed premiere 1 January 2015 /suitable for youths/
Ústřední půjčovna filmů (původní 1966, obnovené 1968 a 1979), Asociace českých filmových klubů (obnovená 2014 /Projekt 100 – 2014/), Národní filmový archiv (obnovená 2015)
Tvůrčí skupina Šmída – Fikar, Ladislav Fikar (vedoucí dramaturg tvůrčí skupiny), Bohumil Šmída (vedoucí výroby tvůrčí skupiny)
feature film
88 min
2 509 meters
16mm, 35mm, DCP 2-D, MP4, BRD
1:1,37
black & white
sound
mono
Czech
Czech, German
without subtitles
Czech
Event: Anketa filmových kritiků o nejlepší česko-slovenský hraný film století
1998
Praha / Czech Republic
Festival: Anketa kubánských filmových kritiků 1968
1969
Havana / Cuba
Event: 22. ročník Filmových cen Britské filmové a televizní akademie BAFTA 1968
1969
Londýn / Great Britain
Jiří Pavlík
Event: 22. ročník Filmových cen Britské filmové a televizní akademie BAFTA 1968
1969
Londýn / Great Britain
Jiří Menzel
Festival: 5. mezinárodní festival Addis Abeba
1968
Addis Abeba / Ethiopia
Event: 25. ročník Výročních cen Sdružení zahraničního tisku v Hollywoodu Zlaté glóby 1967
1968
Los Angeles / United States of America
Event: Státní ceny za rok 1967
1968
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Bohumil Hrabal
Event: 40. ročník Ceny americké Akademie filmových věd a umění Oscar 1967
1968
Hollywood, Los Angeles / United States of America
Jiří Menzel
Event: Anketa Národního sdružení filmových kritiků
1968
New York City / United States of America
Event: Cena Svazu finských filmových kritiků
1968
Helsinky / Finland
Event: Státní ceny za rok 1967
1968
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jiří Menzel
Event: Anketa periodika The New York Times
1968
New York City / United States of America
Event: Cena polského Klubu filmové kritiky
1968
Varšava / Poland
Event: Múzy pražských diváků
1967
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jiří Šust
Event: Odměna vedení Československého filmu za nejúspěšnější film roku 1966
1967
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Bohumil Hrabal
Event: Múzy pražských diváků
1967
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jiří Menzel
Event: Ceny Trilobit 1966
1967
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Bohumil Hrabal
Event: 4. soutěž o hudební dílo vytvořené pro film v roce 1966
1967
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jiří Šust
Event: Ceny Trilobit 1966
1967
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jiří Menzel
Event: Odměna vedení Československého filmu za nejúspěšnější film roku 1966
1967
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Jiří Menzel
Event: Československá nominace na Cenu americké Akademie filmových věd a umění Oscar 1967
1967
Praha / Czechoslovakia
Festival: 15. mezinárodní filmový týden Mannheim
1966
Mannheim / Federal Republic of Germany
Festival: 15. mezinárodní filmový týden Mannheim
1966
Mannheim / Federal Republic of Germany
Festival: 17. filmový festival pracujících – podzim '66
1966
86 měst / Czechoslovakia
Jiří Menzel
Festival: 17. filmový festival pracujících – podzim '66
1966
86 měst / Czechoslovakia