Sexual Theme Of The Film example essay topic

At first glance 'Closely Watched Trains' could appear to be to be a losing fight against adversity, which inevitably it is, however there are many moments and hints at liberation and the endeavour for freedom within it that give out hope. It takes place in occupied Czechoslovakia, and our protagonist Milos, who becomes a dispatcher's apprentice, is more concerned initially with his journey to sexual awakening. Oblivious to the war he encounters a world which is frustrating and ultimately leads to a very up and down series of events cumulating with his attempted suicide and eventual death at the end. The political struggle in this film, to begin with, passes Milos by and he is fairly unaware of the overall picture he finds himself in.

The sleepy station, which trains nearly always skip, seems quiet and insignificant. There appears to be no signs of war here, however, although the narrative often strays more towards the sexual quest for liberation there are a number of connotations to the political situation which come out in the finale when the title of the film is explained. The station is used as a passage for German trains carrying soldiers and munitions through Czechoslovakia. The trains themselves can be looked upon as a device in the film - they represent what the Czech resistance is fighting against. The trains themselves physically give off steam which rises above the earth and escapes - their ultimate goal. This can be seen as a metaphor for what happens later on when Milos drops the bomb; he himself has risen above his oppression to escape from his troubles and that of those surrounding him.

One of the foremost scenes which deals indirectly with the political situation and portrays a sense of real liberation in a time of oppression is the stamping scene. The sexual theme of the film is, as already mentioned, closely interlinked with the other themes. Sex is one of a human's basic rights, a right which the Germans can never take away from the Czechs. It is an untouchable form of freedom with which director Menzel uses as a weapon against the Germans. It is in a way mocking their power and suggesting they don't care for the power and authority the Nazis pride themselves on. The stamps used in the scene are German official stamps and are used in a 'sacrilegious' manor, which ends up bringing the two parties to court.

The music used in the film when Milos is about to have sex is used as a weapon - it is same music played by the Germans on radio broadcast to represent victory. Even the name of the girl, Viktoria is an adaptation of the word victory. Other parts of the film have small instances in which ideals of liberation feature in the storytelling. Characters and events are used to represent the bigger picture whilst existing in their own microcosm containing individual problems. Milos running after the female conductor as the train pulls away is a simple case of him chasing after what he desires, but it has a relationship with the way in which the country is trying to achieve it's own state of liberation. The girl is a potential liberator of Milos who can give him what he wants, all the time he aspires to be like the dispatcher at the station who has already achieved this, and is free in many ways Milos is not.

The suicide sequence is the coming together of all the forces against Milos; he prematurely gives up his struggle and tries to end his life. The way he does it locked in a bathroom in the hotel leaves him isolated and unaided. He is trapped in this room like he is trapped in his life, alone with his troubles and with no way out. In this way his life can be liken to the tomb in which we would have spent his final minutes in. One way of looking at the dramatic breaking through of the wall by his saviour is as a breakthrough into his life, someone who can help him has found a way in and can they save him. The on-going link between the sexual and political struggle in this film becomes more apparent as time goes on.

The characters in the film hold the war at a comfortable distance, they are suitably unaffected by it to allow them to follow more typically frivolous pursuits, i.e. sex. Despite the ambivalence shown, there is more significance to this than if you ignore the contextual aspects of the time. In the end what we are presented with is an act of heroism by Milos. His line 'I am a man, but whenever I try to prove that I'm a man, I no longer am's ums up his frustration with the current situation, and the plight he continues to face. The night before he dies, he achieves his goal of having sex; he has overcome his premature ejaculation in a very liberating sexual encounter and has become a man. This sexual maturity could be drawn as a parallel to the political maturity he shows the next day.

As well as physically and emotionally becoming a man through his experience, he has grown as a person and is no longer held back as he has been for so long by fear and lack of confidence. There is a connection between this achieving maturity in a character and the maturing nature of the country itself, which at the time was attempting to actively take a stand against its occupiers. Milos' death is ultimately the end of the passive resistance we see as a theme running through this film. As it changes to aggressive resistance, his life ends although he has finally stood up to what is facing him and taken responsibility. The film closely watched carries a deeper meaning and takes on themes beyond what is merely shown to us on the screen.

The fact it was banned as 'dangerous propaganda's ugg ests that the connotations of character's actions in relation to occupation by Germany was no coincidence. The sexual struggle within the film are a way of approaching the political situation from another angle whilst telling a story, which comes together at the end.