Closely Watched Trains turns 60: Revisit the station where the Oscar-winning film was shot
This November will mark 60 years since the premiere of Closely Watched Trains, the Oscar-winning film by Jiří Menzel. The anniversary will be celebrated on 20 June in Loděnice, where a large part of the film was shot. Fans of the famous movie and the book it is based on can also explore the local Muzeum trati (Museum of the Railway Line), open from April till October.
Closely Watched Trains is a Czechoslovak film directed by Jiří Menzel in 1966, based on a novella of the same name by Bohumil Hrabal.
Set in German-occupied Czechoslovakia near the end of the Second World War, the story follows a 22-year-old apprentice signalman at a small railway station who struggles with sexual anxiety while gradually becoming involved in the wartime resistance movement. The film adaptation by director Jiří Menzel, starring actor and singer Václav Neckář in the leading role, won the Academy Awards Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1968.
The film was shot at the railway station in Loděnice near Beroun, about 32 kilometres southwest of Prague. Today, very few people would recognise the station as it appears in the film, but according to Loděnice resident Markéta, the film still holds great significance for the village.
“The station has been rebuilt now, but until recently it really still looked like it did in the film. From what I know from local witnesses, when the film was being shot, Mr. Menzel and the actors used to meet in a pub at the forge in Chrustenice. It was quite a well-known tavern,” she explains.
A small museum is located directly in the station building.
“The idea came from a group of a few friends. We gathered a team of people and agreed that, in addition to Closely Watched Trains and the history of the station, there would also be a section about the history of the village,” explains curator Alena Heinrichová.
The museum interior is divided into three sections – the history of the station, the history of the village, and at the very back, a room dedicated to Closely Watched Trains.
“Here we have photographs from the film, there are photos from the celebrations that took place 41 years later. Over there are five photographs from events organised by Czech Railways on the occasion of the filming.”
It was during the celebrations ten years ago that director Jiří Menzel spoke in a Czech Radio report by Jaroslav Skalický about the filming. He said that the idea of winning an Oscar never even crossed his mind.
“I was lucky. Mr. Šofr and I had only one goal — to make it in a way that would allow us to shoot another film. We had no other ambitions,” he said at the time.
Cinematographer Jaromír Šofr also recalled the filming, explaining why the creators chose the Loděnice station: “It was unbeatable because of its beautiful intimacy, natural setting, and the steep hillside,” he said.
People in Loděnice will once again commemorate the anniversary of Closely Watched Trains this year, specifically on 20 June.
