Closely Observed Trains (Members’ Choice) Directed by Jiří Menzel

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Closely Observed Trains (Members’ Choice) Directed by Jiří Menzel. Czechoslovakia, 1966. 92 min. (15) With Václav Neckár, Josef Somr, Vlastimil Brodský Like The Shop on Main Street (Kadár/Klos), which won the Best Foreign Film Oscar three years earlier, Closely Observed Trains uses the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia as a cipher for Soviet oppression and empathises with the lot of ordinary people living in difficult, despotic times. 1960’s opposition to the regime was spearheaded by filmmakers of the Czech New Wave. Encouraged by international success, leading figures such as Miloš Forman (The Fireman’s Ball, Loves of a Blonde), Vera Chytilová (Daisies) and Jaromil Jireš (The Joke) launched increasingly bold attacks on the authorities. One of the movement’s best-loved films, Closely Observed Trains tells the wistful story of a young railway worker exploring life and love, replete with comic and tragic turns. With more than a nod to The Good Soldier Švejk, the Czech byword for irreverent subversion in the face of bureaucracy and tyranny, timeless themes take shape through the prism of a unique time, place and culture. The liberalised climate that allowed creativity to flourish culminated in the 1968 Prague Spring. But hopes ended abruptly, when Soviet and Warsaw Pact tanks rolled in and reinstated a hard-line communist government. Forman, Němec and others fled to pursue their careers abroad. Menzel remained and endured decades of censorship. His next film Larks on a String, 1969, was banned and not released until the end of the Cold War. We are delighted to be joined by the film critic Phillip Bergson for the post-screening Q&A. "In my opinion, the true poetry of this movie, if it has any, lies not in the absurd situations them- selves, but in their juxtaposition with obscenity and tragedy.'' Jiří Menzel Oscar Best Foreign Language Film 1968 __________________________________________________________________________ Tear between the dotted lines below to rate the film (5* = top score) & hand in. Please write any comments on the back of this slip. .

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