Plot
Germany is losing at all her fronts at the end of the Second World War. Young Miloš Hrma is engaged as an unpaid employee in a small railway station. The stationmaster, an enthusiastic pigeon-breeder, has a kind wife, but is envious of the train dispatcher Hubička's success with women. Miloš holds a platonic love for young conductor Máša. The experienced Hubička tries to explain to him the "matters of love" and discovers that Miloš is a virgin.
The idyll of the railway station is disturbed by the arrival of the councillor, Zednicek, a Nazi supporter. Máša spends the night with Miloš, but he finds no success and, the next day, he attempts suicide. He is saved, and the doctor explains to him that ejaculatio praecox is normal at Miloš's age. The doctor recommends that Miloš seek the assistance of an experienced woman. During the nightshift, Hubička flirts with the telegraphist, Zdenička, and imprints her buttocks with the office's rubber stamps. Her mother complains to Hubička's superiors.
The scandal prevents the stationmaster from becoming inspector. The Germans are nervous, since their trains are attacked and blown up by the partisans. An attack is also planned for this station. Young artiste Viktoria Freie delivers a bomb to the station. At Hubička's request, Viktoria also helps Miloš to "resolve" his problem with virginity. The encouraged Miloš sets up the booby-trap himself. The endeavor is successful, but the young man also dies during the course of events.
Read more about this topic: Closely Watched Trains
Famous quotes containing the word plot:
“The plot was most interesting. It belonged to no particular age, people, or country, and was perhaps the more delightful on that account, as nobody’s previous information could afford the remotest glimmering of what would ever come of it.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
““The plot thickens,” he said, as I entered.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)