Closely Watched Trains

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In keeping with my current Czech cinema bender, I finally got around to watching the Criterion DVD of this over the weekend. How great is this film? In a strange way, it brought to mind a Central European companion to "Billy Liar" (kind of!).

New answers and magic please!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I always wanted to see some czech films. should I order this one just now?

what of 'Loves of a Blonde'? it is from the same year, it seems.

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Nice bottom-stamping scene. Great ending. Classic.

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:41 (twenty-two years ago)

yes! closely watched trains is great. the billy liar comparison is right on, i think.
i like loves of a blonde a lot, but not as much as fireman's ball. also, check out daisies and diamonds of the night.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:41 (twenty-two years ago)

did you steal it from my mailbox? netflix says "closely watched" was supposed to arrive on sat. and it still isn't there!

― n, Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Fireman's Ball is great, lauren!!! Yay!!!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:45 (twenty-two years ago)

@d@m, you should read

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:45 (twenty-two years ago)

... read The Good Soldier Sjevk: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1585004286/002-4367010-7802421?v=glance

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:46 (twenty-two years ago)

you should also read i served the king of england.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:48 (twenty-two years ago)

and probably garbage by ivan klima.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the sound of the Czech title, Ostre sledované vlaky. Hrabal's novel "I Served the King of England" is worth checking out too (plus, again, fantastic Czech title: "Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále --- currently in production, according to imdb).

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Thanks, Chuck. How are you?

And Lauren, you know when we were talking about Elf in the Tonga Room? Errr...for the first few minutes I thought we were talking about Elephant...My hearing is awful because of the music that goes screechclangscreech and also the kind that goes boombaddumboom. Sorry. But Elf is great, too! :)

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Has anyone seen Crimes in a Music Hall or Capricious Summer?

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:53 (twenty-two years ago)

eh, what? i'm half-deaf myself, or if i wasn't i definitely am now after last night. don't worry about it!

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 17:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Not too shabby, thanks. You? I saw Brewster McCloud yesterday. And it was good.

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 18:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World starring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany and directed by Peter Weir! It had seals in it!

I am good, though. Just as poor as a monkey.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 18:03 (twenty-two years ago)

i saw pieces of april. it was cute. every time I'm going to go to the movies I look at what's playing and none of it seems worth the $30 it winds up costing though. I wanted to see 21 Grams but @d@m ruined it for me. thank god for return of the king!

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 18:29 (twenty-two years ago)

What did I do?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 18:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Man, you should know by now that I am growing cynical and jaded when it comes to movies. I think Kill Bill was the only thing that we have seen that we both agree on? Or Swimming Pool, maybe?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 18:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Speaking of which, Ludivine Sagnier (sic?) is Tinkerbell in the new Peter Pan movie!!!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 18:36 (twenty-two years ago)

You mean her?

http://www.alen-clothes.co.uk/fancy/tinkerbell.jpg

― Chuck Tatum (Chuck Tatum), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

You said 21 Grams was horrible!

Did you decide you hated Lost in Translation? You are a madman! I didn't like Swimming Pool very much; well, I didn't like the end, the rest was pretty good.

I thought Peter Pan looked good from the movie poster, then I saw a commercial for it and it looked like absolute crap.

But shockingly, the full trailer for that Julia Roberts girlschool movie makes it look watchable when the commercials for it made it look repulsive. But then all the girls in it are HAWT and that is all I care about today.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 19:13 (twenty-two years ago)

I was supposed to be studying Closely Watched Trains this term. Only I've not read the book yet...or seen all the film. It looked good though, and I enjoyed I Served The King of England. That sort of reminded me of a Czech Billy Liar, but not as much as The Cowards by Skvorecky. The other week I watched a mental Czech film (can't remember the name, sorry that's not very helpful) about these two sisters that were seeing two brothers but didn't know...only there were no subtitles so my Slavonic Studies lecturer just shouted out the translation from the side, which was funny but annoying after a while.

― Cathy (Cathy), Tuesday, 16 December 2003 19:53 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

REVIVE!

As I mentioned in another thread that inspired me to revive this, it's debatably my favourite book and it's undoubtedly my favourite movie. Funnily enough, I was corresponding with someone about it just a moment ago as well and now I've got the book in my hand. I want to stop what I'm reading in order to dive into it again. Gah!

― Ian Riese-Moraine has a grenade, that pineapple's not just a toy! (Eastern Mantr, Tuesday, 26 April 2005 23:52 (twenty-one years ago)

i loved the film (as i've loved every czech film i've seen) (YES ALL FOUR OF THEM)

― joseph (joseph), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 00:35 (twenty-one years ago)

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