Lake Tahoe

In Fernando Eimbcke's peculiar film, a young man crashes his car in the sleepy Mexican town where his family lives. No-one seems interested in fixing it. Eventually, someone does. His engagements with the various oddballs he meets while trying to repair it are set against the backdrop of the recent death of his father. And that's it. The film seems part a meditation on cosmic loneliness, and part a satire on national decay, but I've rarely seen a film with so little dialogue and action: each scene is separated by a black interlude, and much of the plot is implied in the gaps, rather than shown. Eimbcke succeeds in creating a mood, but the absence of any conventional storytelling imperative makes it a sparse experience. It feels more like a proof of concept than a completely finished movie.

After an hour, you come to understand why this Juan is driving his father's car. And not until in the end, you realize why this movie is called "Lake Tahoe".

The tempo is slow, showing this day in Juan's life which makes him grow up. Ordinary things happen, but you understand that they are all very important, and no Juan day will be like this in the future and change him more.

Sometimes you come to think of Jacques Tati. Both from the camera work and the sterile environments, including some glimpses of life. And very important ones too. Very strange and quite see-worthy.

Does anyone know who sings "La lloroncita", the end credits' song ? I loved it but can't seem to find out who sings it…

Regarding the movie, i was under the charm of its slowness, the drama increasing gradually to an issue that i definitely found worth the while. I enjoyed these long moments of wait with the characters, i loved that tale of minuscule things. What else ?… Lots of humour and weird characters accompany the boy through what can definitely be named a journey of initiation to aspects of life. Lots of emotion and empathy are present here as well.

I heard the director made the movie out of his personal experience. Maybe its truth comes partly from there.

Let us get all our facts and views clear about this quasi Avant-Garde Mexican film.Fernando Eimbecke's second film "Lake Tahoe" is not at all an existentialist film.It is a film of absurd ideas involving numerous boisterous undertones but not in the same tradition as that of Monty Python type of films.The viewers' interest in the film is generated right from the beginning as it takes place in some obscure sleepy town in Mexico where hardly anybody could be seen on the streets.It appears as if a lost ghost town is being portrayed on the screen.Those who look for perfection in the form of innovative cinematography would not be deceived as "Lake Tahoe" features some of the most well executed, well planned camera angels which would even put late Nestor Almendros to shame.Fernando Eimbecke is a prolific young director but it is rather unfortunate that he has been compared to the great master of cinema Luis Bunuel.He is just two films old and it is easily evident that he has a golden future ahead of him but such a tempting comparison in the early part of a young person's career might turn out to be counter productive.A final word of warning.Those who are looking for a meaningful story will be highly disappointed.This is not hard to swallow as Godard uncle stated a very long time ago that films should have a beginning, a middle, and an end... but not necessarily in that order.

This movie, albeit slow, contains a lot of universal humanistic aspects. The power isn't in the acting, direction or camera work, it's the combination of these that brings a lot of soul to the screen. This is what I would personally call a film which contains wisdom. It has been a real treat viewing this, even though I remained critical of its direction. Once you get used to the pace of it, you'll get dragged along.

A friend recommended I should see this, so I did. The 'ZEN'-shot of one of the car mechanic companies did not surprise me, and the many references to Kung Fu and Eastern philosophies were great. You should try to watch this film without too much criticism. Then it's definitely worth it.

To summarize, I admire this film's innocence. Minimal script, minimal acting, minimal direction. It leaves a lot to the imagination, a real feast if you're open to it.