Take a trip to quirky 'Lake Tahoe'

29/06/2009

Under a scorching morning sun, on the outskirts of a lazy, deserted town, sixteen-year-old Juan (Diego Catano) crashes his Nissan into a post and spends the better part of a day waiting for someone to help him fix it. A strange cast of lonely characters come to his aide, in their fashion, and then, realising what a nice kid Juan is, ask him for a favour.  Back at home, when Juan’s mother won’t come out of the bathroom and his younger brother won’t come out of his tent, Juan returns to grant the favours.  Gradually, in Mexican director/co-writer Fernando Eimbcke’s (Duck Season) touching semi-autobiographical film, Lake Tahoe, we realise that Juan, like his mother and brother, is dealing with a tragedy, in his fashion.

 

While commendably avoiding sentimentality, Eimbcke, and co-writer Paula Markovitch, employ a quirky, absurdist and quasi surreal style that becomes artificial without delivering the comic touches we’re waiting for.  While the slow pace is probably intended as a gentle parody of the southern Mexican work ethic, the viewer might not share Juan’s patience. The frequent use of fade to black in the middle of a scene is just plain annoying – like a commercial break on television with no commercial.  To his credit, Eimbcke avoids explicit psychological explanations of Juan’s state of mind, using the damaged car, instead, as a kind of metaphor.  As for the title, Lake Tahoe, is, in the surreal manner of much of the film, not only a vulgar car sticker of a place they’ll never get to, but Juan’s most endearing connection to his father.