What a unknown gem!
Just got done seeing this, it looked interesting at the library rental racks so I decided to check it out from sheer curiosity. I can't believe how good a film this is! *****, 10/10, A+, if you like to watch films from the Criterion Collection like I do you can't miss this. It's not that I haven't seen any other films like this, but it's still worth checking out.
This is a WWII comedy/drama about a young Czech teen who takes up a job as a train station assistant. At first it seems like a sarcastically silly farce on bureaucracy, but for anybody who reads between the lines can see this as more of a social commentary about the little people of war.
But then again it’s more than that. It’s also very entertaining and absolutely hilarious with a certain sense of charm and innocence to it. The kid Milos and boss train dispatcher Hubicka are two of the most likeable characters I’ve ever seen in any film, though the latter is a shameless womanizer and the former is a terminal virgin (in fact very similar to Dustin Hoffman’s character in “The Graduate”). Yes there is a lot of sex in the film, but no nudity and no actual showing of it, it’s actually more suggested which makes it all that more of a guilty pleasure to watch. The villain, Counselor Zednicek, is the complete representation of the bureaucratic Nazi culture. Plus the infamous “stamping” scene is highly sensual, but it’s still kind of sweet in a romantic sort of way. Nowadays it would probably be rated PG-13.
Overall, most people will think they’ve seen this kind of film before, but just not as old as 1966. Steven Speilberg was definitely influenced by this from practically all his comedies, but remember this is one of those “at the time” films when this kind of story telling in films was revolutionary. Anyway, I’d highly recommend this. It seems pretty obscure to most people, but try to find it if you can.