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Tabu: A Story of the South Seas




Tabu: A Story of the South Seas
(1931) - 7,5



Last work from Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. Just like Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, this is a love archetype promoting a universal message. The story unravels within the seed of a tribal community inhabiting Bora Bora, a remote island in French Polinesia. Matahi and Reri ride against forces of higher order within the tribe to preserve their love bond. The resistance is stretched to the limits of what is humanly possible hereby sentencing their tale to a tragic fate. This movie is so engaging that it's easy forget that one is seeing a docufiction. As is hallmark of this genre, it's not possible to separate reality from fiction in what is partly a documentation of the people of Bora Bora and their culture. All the characters are the real tribal natives and chinese living in the region. By virtue of which Tabu invokes a different kind of allure from Sunrise. The idyllic landscape, the tribal rituals and the close contact with nature contrast with the modern world of Sunrise, and craft a rawer and even more nostalgic experience. But ultimately, Tabu doesn't have the impact of a timeless masterpiece like Sunrise. That monumental dreamlike enchantment of Sunrise is missing from Tabu; this is a slightly more earthy and dry experience in my opinion. In any case, Tabu has great poetic beauty and emotional power. The camera work and cinematography are top-notch and earned Floyd Crosby an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, while the archetypal performance as Reri launched Anne Chevalier's acting career for the following years. This beautiful work of silent cinema was honored by Miguel Gomes in 2012 with his homonymous film which I highly enjoyed and also reviewed. Recommended!