Overall the story was a little uneven. It had a different sense of humor than I’m used to, but I did find it to be very funny. It’s a foreign film in black and white set during WWII, in some ways a simpler more innocent time, but it deals with sexual themes in a humorous way like The Graduate or The 40 Year Old Virgin or even American Pie. There are probably some better examples of Hollywood copying this type of story, but I can’t think of more off the top of my head right now.

Milos gets his first job working as a train station dispatcher. It shouldn’t require too much hard work and he wants it that way so he can uphold the family tradition. The two men he works for always have sex on their minds (well the boss is married and has to be careful, so he likes taking care of pigeons too). Most of the women who appear in the story are flirtatious and attractive, the sort to occupy young men’s dreams. Milos actually has a budding relationship with Masa. She is a conductor for a train that regularly goes by the station, and like the slightly older more sexually aware professional women she is, she takes the lead in suggesting they spend the night together. When he gets nervous and can’t perform, he becomes depressed and attempts suicide. The director, Jiri Menzel, plays a doctor who advises Milos that premature ejaculation is perfectly normal and to think about fútbol. The doctor also advises that he should find a much older experienced woman to break him in so he’ll be ready for the next time with his girlfriend. Then a good part of the rest of the movie involves Milos trying to find an older willing woman.

Meanwhile, the Nazis stop by a couple times too to spread propaganda about the Fuhrer’s purpose being to help all humanity. There is an underground movement that sees an opportunity to have a bomb dropped on a German train carrying munitions through the station where Milos works. And through the sexual escapades of a couple of his coworkers providing a distraction this heavy responsibility falls on Milos. Like I said, there are a lot of funny situations that then abruptly surprise you with a few tragic occurrences.