Lake Tahoe

Colour, 35 mm
Mexico, 2008, 85 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

The path we all have to travel in order to reach maturity and to reconcile ourselves with all aspects of life, including the death of those closest to us, can take many forms. Very few, however, are as absurd as the odyssey undertaken by 16-year-old Juan the moment he crashes the clapped-out family car in the middle of the Yucatan wilderness. He goes off in search of the necessary spare part and comes across increasingly more bizarre figures along the way: the taciturn car mechanic who almost implausibly resembles his dog, the punk girl who runs a delapidated car repair shop, and “The One Who Knows”, a teen mechanic who is more familiar with kung-fu films than with car engines. The surreal two-dimensionality of this film is reminiscent of the poetic style of Aki Kaurismäki and Jim Jarmusch – this is a world full of monosyllables, absurd humour, awkward hesitation and heady melancholy. Fernando Eimbcke’s Lake Tahoe deservedly took away the Alfred Bauer Award for innovation at this year’s Berlinale.

About the director

Fernando Eimbcke (b. 1970, Mexico) completed his film studies at Mexico’s National University (1996) and was already winning important awards for his short films and music video clips while still a student. His feature debut Duck Season (Temporada de patos, 2004), however, caused a true sensation. This absurd comedy about two adolescent friends and one tedious Sunday afternoon was screened at the festivals in Cannes, Karlovy Vary and Toronto; apart from festival awards, the film also took away eleven Ariels, the annual prize presented by the Mexican Film Academy.