Lake Tahoe DVD Review: Film Movement

Film 3, Year 7 in the Film Movement DVD of the Month Club is Lake Tahoe. A winner of the Fipresci Prize and Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Special Jury Prize at the Transylvania International Film Festival, and Best Director at the Guadalajara Film Festival, this Fernando Eimbcke November 10th DVD release was filmed in Mexico and told in Spanish with English subtitles.

Per usual, Film Movement celebrates the best foreign films and independent movies by releasing one DVD a month of a movie currently succeeding on the film festival circuit and not yet released in theaters.  The Lake Tahoe DVD release is accompanied by the Short Film of the month, Noodles from Director Jordan Feldman.  This French film makes you want to “learn how to use chopsticks”.

When teenager Juan (Diego Catano) crashes his family’s car into a telegraph pole, he gets more than he bargains for in his quest for a spare part and someone to help him fix the car.  Don Heber is a paranoid old mechanic whose life companion is Sica, his boxer dog.  Lucia is a young mother who believes she is destined to be a punk band lead singer.  A teen mechanic with a martial arts obsession appears to be Juan’s greatest hope.

Juan’s never ending quest for a solution takes the seemingly mild-mannered youth on a stressful and event-filled day that artisticly presents the diversity of lifestyles surround Juan.  What makes these award-winning films from Film Movement so brilliant is that the writing and direction is unmatched in intelligence and artistry.  While many of the foreign films presented do not offer a typical entertainment format expected by American audiences, the artistic stories and character explorations are brilliant.

Lake Tahoe is a relatively slow-paced story and you have to watch closely to following the subtitles, otherwise, you will certainly fail to grasp the oddities that make it an intriguing film.  If you like foreign films and artistic stories about life in its natural setting, Lake Tahoe may be for you.  Be aware that while the movie is fairly mild thematically, there is a moment of nudity and brief sexuality near the end.

MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 81 Minutes
DVD Release Date: November 10, 2009

Director: Fernando Eimbcke
Starring: Diego Catano, Hector Herrera, Daniela Valentine, and Juan Carlos Lara

DVD Review by Neil of Movie Room Reviews

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