MEXICAN CINEMA’S CURRENT FLOURISHING HEALTH IS EXEMPLIFIED BY THIS SECOND FEATURE FROM FERNANDO EIMBCKE, A BEAUTIFULLY COMPOSED, SWEET AND TOUCHING STORY ABOUT A YOUNG MAN, A MISSING AUTO PART, AND A LOT MORE.

Eimbcke’s 2004 debut Duck Season was a winningly underplayed comedy of adolescent ennui, and here he’s sustained its wry wit but laid out a broader palette, marked by luminous colour cinematography. In an anonymous town in southern Mexico, protagonist Juan (Diego Cataño) is in search of a distributor harness, the bit he needs so his crashed car will start again. His encounters with an old mechanic and his dog, an alluring female shop assistant and her Shaolin-obsessed superior, form the substance of a skeletal plot, yet the real joy is the engrossing and sensitive manner in which Eimbcke gradually reveals what’s really eating away at his central character — nuggets of information so precious it’s best not to give anything away. Before you know it, the film exerts a genuine emotional pull, exploring the difficult feelings we hide inside ourselves and the release of being able to share them with others.

Not that Eimbcke’s about to reveal all this right away. Taking his cue from early Jim Jarmusch (Stranger Than Paradise obsessives, this one’s for you!) and Aki Kaurismaki, he takes his time in building up the story from beautifully weighted static shots, and even wrings humorous mileage from the black leader adeptly used as formal punctuation. Moreover, when the particular resonance of the mysterious title finally becomes clear, it sets the seal on a film of grace and compassion. Utterly lovely. — Trevor Johnston.

Irish Shorts @ IFI
This screening includes John McIlduff’s IFB funded In Safe Hands. A young man, the victim of a vicious hit and run accident, receives a shock in the hospital emergency room… (Ireland, 2003, 2.5 mins)