Film

Lake Tahoe

Cert: 12A

Description: Juan has recently lost his father and his mother is so consumed by grief, she has ceased to function as a parent, leaving her boy to his own devices. Driving through the Yucatan in the family car, Juan is involved in an accident which renders the car immobile. He seeks a replacement distributor harness from mechanic Don Heber to no avail, then seeks help from auto parts store worker David, who is obsessed with martial arts. As he crosses paths with other residents of the close-knit community Juan sees reflections of his own unhappy life.

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Dir: Fernando Eimbcke.

Cast: Diego Catano, Hector Herrera, Daniela Valentine, Juan Carlos Lara II, Yemil Sefani, Mariana Elizondo

Country: Mex.

Year: 2008.

Duration: 81mins

Smiles amid moody minimalism in Lake Tahoe

Diego Catano: stars in Lake Tahoe

By Derek Malcolm
26 Jun 2009

A young man (Diego Catano) drives an old Nissan through a desert landscape in Mexico.

Perhaps because he�s tired, he hits a pole and can�t get the car started again, so he hoofs it to the nearest small town.

When he arrives, nothing seems to be going on but there is an old mechanic, who points him in the direction of a spare-parts store, where a young woman with a baby tries to help him.

Nobody talks very much and it is only late in the film that we learn why the boy feels as desolate as the township he visits.

Fernando Eimbecke�s movie is minimalism incarnate but curiously resonant.

It is funny as well as melancholy and assisted by cinematography from Alexis Zabe that is astonishingly beautiful and precise.

Clearly those who are bored by minimalism should not apply.

But the atmosphere could only be held like this by a very proficient film-maker and the fact that there is an occasional smile on its face renders any pretension well hidden.