WITH “Lake Tahoe,” Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke proves himself adept at turning a blank screen into a work of art.
Each carefully composed scene is separated by an empty black screen. Some are accompanied by sound — like that of the car crash that sets up the movie’s story — while others are silent. But each is of dramatic importance and adds to the film’s minimalist magic.
The crash that is heard but not seen involves a telephone pole and a red Nissan driven by teenager Juan (Diego Catano) and sets off a nearly daylong attempt to have the vehicle fixed.
While Juan has difficulty getting the car repaired, he has little problem meeting strange characters: a lonely old mechanic whose only friend is a bulldog named Sica, a single-mom punkette (Daniela Valentine) who wants the boy to baby-sit while she goes to a concert, and a teen mechanic more interested in kung fu than cars.
Eimbcke, who impressed critics with his 2006 “Duck Season,” favors long, static takes and a minimum of dialogue.
Some viewers will feel trapped in a cinematic hell. Others, this critic included, will be in heaven as this droll charmer unfolds.
In Spanish, with English subtitles. Running time: 81 minutes. Not rated (brief nudity). At Anthology Film Archives, Second Avenue and Second Street. Through Thursday.—