Closely Watched Trains

Closely Watched Trains
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJiří Menzel
Screenplay byBohumil Hrabal
Jiří Menzel
Based onClosely Watched Trains
1965 novel
by Bohumil Hrabal
Produced byZdeněk Oves
StarringVáclav Neckář
Jitka Bendová
Josef Somr
Vlastimil Brodský
Vladimír Valenta
CinematographyJaromír Šofr
Edited byJiřina Lukešová
Music byJiří Šust
Production
companies
Barrandov Studios
Ceskoslovensky Film
Distributed byÚstřední půjčovna filmů
Release date
  • 18 November 1966 (1966-11-18)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryCzechoslovakia
LanguagesCzech
German
Box office$1,500,000 (US/ Canada)[1]

Closely Watched Trains (Czech: Ostře Sledované Vlaky) is a 1966 Czechoslovakian New Wave coming-of-age comedy film directed by Jiří Menzel and is one of the best-known films of the Czechoslovak New Wave. It was released in the United Kingdom as Closely Observed Trains. It is a story about a young man working at a train station in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II. The film is based on a 1965 novel by Bohumil Hrabal. It was produced by Barrandov Studios and filmed on location in Central Bohemia. Released outside Czechoslovakia during 1967, it received widespread acclaim and won the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968.[2] Nowadays the movie is assessed as one of the finest works of the Czech New Cinema.

  1. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1968", Variety, 8 January 1969 p 15. Please note this figure is a rental accruing to distributors.
  2. ^ "The 40th Academy Awards (1968) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-11-12.