Synopsis
On the South Pacific island of Bora Bora, a young couple's love is threatened when the tribal chief declares the girl a sacred virgin.
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Tabu: A Story of the South Seas
Director
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Writers
Editor
Cinematography
Assistant Directors
Camera Operator
Composer
Studios
Country
Language
Alternative Titles
Табу: История Южных Морей, 타부: 남태평양의 이야기, Tabù, Tabou, Tabú, Табу, Kärlekens ö, 禁忌, Tabu, 타부, Tabu: Güney Denizinin Hikayesi
Genres
Themes
Releases by Date
Premiere
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USANR
New York City, New York (Premiere)
Theatrical
30 Jul 1931
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Sweden
01 Aug 1931
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USA
05 Aug 1931
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Germany
21 Aug 1931
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Netherlands
30 Aug 1931
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Finland
03 Sep 1931
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Canada
18 Sep 1931
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UK
05 Oct 1931
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Denmark
06 Oct 1931
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Hungary
08 Oct 1931
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Italy
15 Oct 1931
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Argentina
21 Oct 1931
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Turkey
25 Jan 1932
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Portugal
04 Mar 1932
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Ireland
Releases by Country
Argentina
15 Oct 1931
- Theatrical
Canada
03 Sep 1931
- Theatrical
Denmark
05 Oct 1931
- Theatrical
Finland
30 Aug 1931
- Theatrical
Germany
05 Aug 1931
- Theatrical
Hungary
06 Oct 1931
- Theatrical
Ireland
04 Mar 1932
- Theatrical
Italy
08 Oct 1931
- Theatrical
Netherlands
21 Aug 1931
- Theatrical
Portugal
25 Jan 1932
- Theatrical
Sweden
30 Jul 1931
- Theatrical
Turkey
21 Oct 1931
- Theatrical
UK
18 Sep 1931
- Theatrical
USA
18 Mar 1931
- PremiereNR New York City, New York (Premiere)
01 Aug 1931
- Theatrical
Popular reviews
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Whereupon Murnau ceases speaking the language of dreams, & masters the language of cinema for us all.......another one of these final works where by some mysterious series of coincidences the director strips down their formal sensibilities to the most essential parts. No lighting, shadows of grass yes - but it is mostly bodies in composition. Bodies always posing, expressing.
At the same time, it is Murnau's most fatalistic work - therefore his most philosophical. Aquarium meets aquarium - like this film is set in the middle of time, where one social system collides with another.
It is fatalistic because the lovers are doomed from the start - infact
Murnau can be seen as postulating that love can only authentically survive **outside**… -
93/100
Love across boundaries; a story of serene nature shifting into nebulous societal necessities. What was once calm, composed, lush turns greedy and bound to modern pleasures. That such an universal romance tale becomes complex, even grandiose in its details is a result of Murnau's static beauty; never sacrificing clarity but depicting every facet with a more defined eye. Tabu could've felt weightless because of its classical roots, but instead it thrives. From the opening moments to the final brushstroke, F.W. Murnau redefines cinema by taking it back to the beginning. Being one of the final Silents, it's remarkable that Tabu is reminiscent of a hopeful birth instead of an elegy. If only Murnau hadn't left us so soon.
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Paradise.
The gentle rocking of waves. A seismic ripping that washes its crystalline rhythm over the sand. Love and nature dance into each other's embrace on the island of the two lovers' laughter. They are like Adam and Eve. They are surrounded by others but their true Eden is a lone island, united in each other's smiles. Her smile, his smile – they
swim in unison in the waters of purity. But – a waterfall approaches, its mouth gaping below, awaiting to caress the lovers with its tenebrous hands. How long before their fruit of love turns sour?Paradise Lost.
The fruit took up the form of love. Their sin – being in love. Their island of Eden – washed…
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Defina um filme moderno:
um filme mudo de 1931 que, com exceção de alguns efeitos sonoros e alguns planos de ligação (cartas e comunicados que resumem algumas passagens da trama, e que por isso mesmo são brilhantemente elípticos, cf. anos depois Rivette e Oliveira fazendo o mesmo), é construído quase que integralmente como um filme sonoro, alcançando um grau de sofisticação plástica e rítmica que anuncia tanto o realismo do pós-guerra quanto o filme de aventuras marítimas dos cinemas americano e europeu.
Mas tem um outro aspecto ainda mais determinante para que essa modernidade tenha tido uma continuidade (de um lado, digamos mais flahertyano: Walsh, Dwan, Curtiz, Paolella, Sollima) mais profunda e intangível (do outro, mais murnauniano: Renoir, Rossellini, Vidor,…
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How the hell do you go from an ethnographic documentary showing an island paradise, men and women wooing each other, joyous prolonged tribalistic dancing, and men rowing boats with the tunes of Smetana to such a menacing and deranged tale of pure misery and paranoia? Murnau’s latter films in his life seem to deal strongly with societal and cultural friction. Even though Robert J. Flaherty (of Nanook of the North fame) tried to initiate the film as a likeminded documentary capturing an indigenous people, Murnau's intense passion and cynicism breaks through at full-force.
It must be noted that the film's photographic beauty is a treat to feast on, especially with the palm tree canopies casting such gorgeous spectacles of light…
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This is an exploitative tale in which Murnau and co. deploy a barrel of exoticised stereotypes in order to freshen up a traditional Romeo and Juliet style narrative. It is, of course, excellent that there is no Black Face here. Letting people play themselves and represent their own culture is hugely important; it is just that this reality is used only to support a stereotypical unreality.
Diversity and representation behind the camera, and in the most influential roles in film production, is of paramount importance. This comes across as the uniformed forcing a viewpoint onto a culture, which undoes a lot of the potential good.
However, the universal love story here is lovely. It is nice to see familiar stories…
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There's so much movement and wonderfully orchestrated chaos in this. So much dancing and swimming and running and rowing. The movie whips and spins and lives. Human bodies, strong and quick, in motion, in repose, composed against a tropical coastal world. Murnau was already pretty punk rock for straight up stealing Bram Stocker's Dracula and making it, well, much more German, flying in the face of copyright law, but this, his last film, is even more pure punk rock solely for its bold grasp at authenticity through and through.
Last year I discovered this Hawaiian writer, Ian MacMillan, in a small bookshop on the big island. (I know that doesn't sound like a Hawaiian name. He was a transplant, but…
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F. W. Murnau’s Tabu demonstrates itself to be a rather straightforward tale, albeit with some Interesting production history which included him tutoring the natives to labour as the film crew. It's chiefly a Romeo and Juliet tale set on a small island in the South Pacific which Murnau captures in glorious monochrome with Floyd Crosby‘s Oscar-winning cinematography, and the enforced budgetary impediments which were pushed upon the production of the film are wholly nullified to create a timeless story of prohibited passion which is utterly engaging. While the collaboratively written screenplay from Murnau and Robert J. Flaherty may primarily adapt a familiar storyline for different purposes, there are theoretical themes of spirituality and the consequences of conflicting with acknowledged Gods simmering…
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Across the great waters
I will come to you in your dreams
When the moon spreads its path on the sea
Farewell -
The final film of the great FW Murnau, completed shortly before his untimely death in 1931, is a doomed love story set in the south seas. The film begins by introducing us to Paradise - a place apparently untouched by "civilization"; except of course they have their own civilization, which the director delights in depicting. Our story of two lovers is thrown into turmoil when the female is chosen to be a virgin of the Gods - prompting the two of them to escape to more "civilised" territory, out of reach from their tribe and Gods - though into the perils of modern life, where materialism and greed prey upon the unweary. Tabu is such an ambitious production - the…
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Divinely beautiful version of Murnau's favorite story, human being defying God's Will and/or the natural order of things and coming up short. That "innocent childlike islanders" stuff at the beginning was sort of offputting, but it fell away from the characters as they grew in tragic stature, and - I suppose - it was a quick and easy way to represent the Edenic state of grace the characters fell from. If that was a lapse, I can easily ignore it.
PS: I was thinking that the visual tone and the framing/compositions reminded me of Fernandez/Figueroa; easy to imagine them having been influenced by it... even without La Perla, which didn't occur to me until later.
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"Love Mr. Krabs.... the secret ingredient was love" -Spongebob (nif)
Colonialism.
Murnau knew how to make a cool looking movie and quite frankly I was drawn in for a little while by the love story. Mostly this is one of those films where you are like "it's cool/interesting that this got made" and then tuck it away in your subconscious for eternity.
Sure.
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