directed by Tomáš Luňák, animated drama, 80 min, eng subtitles
written by Jaroslav Rudiš
with Miroslav Krobot, Karel Roden, Alois Švehlík
In the Silesian mountains there stands a small railway station where trains snake back and forth and where the platforms are sometimes obscured by a fog which conceals all sorts of strange happenings. Nearby is a psychiatric hospital where people snake back and forth along the corridors. Alois Nebel is a man who knows both the station and the hospital very well. Like his father before him, he has spent his whole life on the railways, most recently as a train dispatcher. He collects train timetables, drinks beer, smokes, and from time to time sees things that nobody else can. Somewhere along the way his mind becomes clouded by the trains passing through the station and crisscrossing their way through the century. It is in this state that Alois meets the Mute, a stranger who appears as if from nowhere, as if out of the past, and gets involved in a murder that happened in Poland but has its roots much closer to the railway station than Alois fathoms. The feature film Alois Nebel is an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name written by Jaroslav Rudiš and Jaromír 99, which combines animation and live-action.
"The glory of the film lies not in its story but rather in its atmosphere and imagery, in a man being chased at night through the forest by men and dogs, in rains that pelt the valley, the swelling river that overflows its banks, a tree that crashes on the rail tracks and the events that finally do shake up Alois Nebel's life." (Honeycutt, Kirk, The Holywood Reporter)
Awards:
Czech Lion 2011 (Best Soundtrack, Sound and Artistic Achievement, Best Poster)
Czech Film Critics´ Award (Best Original Soundtrack)