Tabu

The film-makers say at the outset that the cast consists entirely of South Sea Islanders, some Chinese, and "half-breeds." The story is a tragedy set in the "untouched" paradise of Rora-Rora. Matahi, a handsome youth gifted at spearfishing, pearl diving, and everything else, is in love with Reri (Ann Chevalier), but then she's chosen to be the next maiden whose task and honour it is to attend the gods. Sge is tabu; anybody who touches her or looks on her with desire must die. After the ceremony on the eve of her departure Matahi steals her away and they escape to another island, one more developed by colonial trade, represented by a French policeman and Chinese shopkeepers. Matahi, though the best pearl diver ever seen, runs up a prodigious debt innocently treating the villagers to champagne at a festival. Thus, when they need to escape from the grim pursuit carried on by the menacing Hitu, they cannot purchase a ticket on the schooner leaving just before the deadline of three days. Reri writes a note telling Matahi she's going with Hitu to save his life; at the same time he dives on a tabu reef, battles the shark that protects the place, and finds a rare dark pearl—but Reri's gone. He races after them, first paddling and then swimming, and he reaches Hitus' sailboat and grasps a rope, which Hitu, expressionless, cuts. Matahi falls behind the boat, and losing strength, flails and sinks. The tabu has been too powerful. This is a silent movie, though (later?) fitted with an orchestral soundtrack. The photography is superb, the islanders very handsome, but there's a kind of colonialist primitivism running through the story. The islanders are happy until "superstition" interferes, and though there are natural causes for the disasters blamed on the tabu, the disasters happen anyway. Or is it because of the cruelty of the superstitious religion's structure and enforcer? Or because of the exploitation of the pearl traders, shopkeepers, and police? There is no doubt that the European film-makers created artificial roles for the actors, according to their own preconceived ideas about the innocence of primitive life, even as they advertise their authenticity. But it's well worth watching anyway.

The brainchild of German genius F.W. Murnau and documentary innovator Robert J. Flaherty (of Nanook of the North (1922) fame), Tabu uses the beautiful, untouched landscape of the South Pacific and employs non- professional natives to tell the beautiful story of love found and lost, and ultimately the death of paradise. Murnau died in an automobile accident shortly before the film's premiere and, thus, was his last gift to the movie-going world. Though it doesn't come close to the iconic expressionist horror of Nosferatu (1922) or the dark, satirical humour of The Last Laugh (1924), Murnau's epitaph is a simple, yet heart- wrenching cinematic poem. The best spear-fisherman on Bora Bora is a handsome young man billed simply as The Boy (Matahi). His legendary status and unparalleled skill makes him popular amongst the islanders, and soon he has caught the eye of The Girl (Reri - who went on to star on Broadway as Anne Chevalier). They romance each other, but their affair is soon halted by the arrival of emissary The Old Warrior (Hitu), who proclaims Reri as the sacred maiden. She is 'tabu', and cannot be looked upon by any man unless he wishes the punishment of death. The couple brave storm and sea to escape, an arrive in a French-colonised island, where Matahi start work as a pearl diver. But their happiness is fleeting, and Reri is soon haunted by the image of Hitu, terrified she may have angered the gods. The plot is hardly anything new, but Floyd Crosby's Oscar-winning cinematography makes Tabu more socially aware that the film may have you believe. The subtle yet crucial involvement of the French colonists, finding amusement at Matahi's lack of understanding regarding money and material wealth, is a clear swipe at the creeping of Western civilisation. Bora Bora won't stay pure for much longer. And that adds a gravitas to Matahi and Reri's plight - not only is their romance doomed, but so are their traditions and society. It is one of the last great silent films, a reminder that sound can be an unnecessary distraction, and that picture's can sometimes genuinely speak louder than words. www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

I saw this film just last night on a double bill with "Nosferatu." Considering that Nosferatu is a !*&@#%$ masterpiece, it was hard to compare this with the movie I just saw, plus my friend who was watching it with me was only thinking of "Mystery Science Theater" comments the whole time, but I had the mature response and I really liked this movie. The cinematography is beautiful, and the story is incredibly convincing. The ending also made me cry. It may not be as good as "Sunrise," but it's one of the last great silent films, and also great as a semi-documentary of Polynesian life. Considering Paramount's silent films barely survive, this should be seen as a treasure.

South Seas dramas down through the decades have involved a lovely woman with one layer of scanty clothing, and a man who is chiefly attired in bronzed muscles. Both are Rousseauian children, taking rapturous joy in carnality and in their sun-light surroundings. Invariably they run afoul of the hungry island gods, rapacious white man, or combination of both. It's a genre done in John Ford's "Hurricane" and other movies with Dorothy Lamour; "Bird of Paradise" with Debra Paget; the various "Blue Lagoon" movies; up to the 1980's little seen "Beyond the Reef." This one has one thing distinguishing itself from the others - the cast is all actually Polynesian, or partly so (sorry Dorothy). It does bring in the common troubles of indigenous peoples: wanting to escape their stifling tribal atmosphere, they have a hard time coping with the outside world's currency economy and alcoholic drink. The movie eschews the Hollywood ending. Anne Chevalier is a treat, and a climatic moment late in the movie is directed for maximum shock.

This was one of the titles listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I knew nothing about it, but having this recommendation I was willing to give this silent film a go and hope for the best, from director F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horrors, The Last Laugh, Sunrise), his last film before his death. Basically, set on an island of Bora Bora lagoon, the maiden sacred to their gods has died and has been replaced by The Girl (Anne Chevalier), and young fisherman The Boy (Matahi) is in love with her, and vice versa, despite the fact that she must stay untouched. She is tabu (taboo), and if this rule about touching is broken she and her lover will be killed, but they go against the law of The Old Warrior (Hitu) and escape to an island ruled white men, where their gods do not rule over them. Being an excellent The Boy has collected many valuable pearls from the bottom of the sea, but he does not understand the concept of money, but when The Old Warrior is chasing him and The Girl they buy a ticket to travel to a new place, using money earned from pearls collected as part of a debt from shark infested restricted waters. But The Girl goes against him and hands herself in to The Old Warrior, returning to their island to spare the life of The Boy, and trying to follow, swimming the ocean after the boat and trying to reach the island himself he dies from exhaustion. Also starring Bill Bambridge as The Policeman. I will confess that I found it a bit difficult to follow, apart from the basic forbidden love story, but all the culture disputes and activities or events going on I slipped in and out with, it certainly looks good though with the locations, so I suppose it is not a bad silent drama. It won the Oscar for Best Cinematography. Worth watching!

The movie is no way near as a good as Murnau's most previous movies, mainly because it isn't really anything innovation. For his standards, this is a pretty standard piece of work. This no doubt also has to do with the fact that during the beginning of production acclaimed documentary maker Robert J. Flaherty (the man who also made "Nanook of the North") was also at the helm but slowly got pushed away by F.W. Murnau as filming progressed. Two captains on one ship just never work out, especially not when they have different expertise's. It's the reason why the movie at times looks as if its a documentary about the natives and at others the movie follows obviously a story. But having said that this is no way near close to being F.W. Murnau's best, says nothing about the quality of this actual film. It's a worthy enough last picture of the German director, who gave us movies such as "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens", "Der Letzte Mann" and "Faust", before dying in a car crash, one week before the release of this movie. He was one of the most influential directors of the silent film era, even though this last movie doesn't fully does justice to this reputation. The movie just wasn't always much interesting to me. Perhaps I just didn't liked or cared enough about its subject of a group of natives on Bora-Bora. The movie of course looks visually good and shows lot of the customs and lifestyle of the natives but the story just doesn't ever get off the ground. Perhaps this is also due to the fact that this is a silent movie, so without any dialogs but also without title cards as well. It only uses some monologues and a couple of letters that are being read and written by some of the characters within the movie. A 'movie' that is worth a watch but don't expect anything typical Murnau. 7/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

"Tabu" is a visually arresting black-and-white silent...and that's a good thing because there's not much else going on here to occupy your mind. Heavy-handed "plot" about a doomed beauty on primitive Bora Bora who flees her island home and family with her lover, unable to escape her unlucky fate, is cast with real islanders so you cannot fault the authenticity; however, there's nobody in the film who leaves an impression. The movie began life as a documentary, but director F.W. Murnau pushed for a fictional storyline to propel the visuals, and this may have been a mistake. As it unfolds, one can see shot after shot of beautiful images that would look wonderful in a coffee-table book for the tiki lounge set, but the dated dramatics muddy things up. Floyd Crosby won a well-deserved Oscar for his cinematography. **1/2 from ****

Director F.W. Murnau wisely stuck with the silent film medium he knew so well to cover this story of native islander life in the South Seas. The documentary style works very well for the first half of the movie. The landscapes are beautiful, and the daily life activities of the islanders are interesting to watch. The film loses momentum, though, when it begins to concentrate more on the narrative story of two doomed lovers. The storyline just never gets that interesting, despite being handled well by Murnau. Won an Academy Award for best cinematography, although the award probably should have been for best scenery. You can't really credit the DP for getting to shoot in such a beautiful location.

Tabu might best be described as ethnographic-fiction which combines Robert J. Flaherty's documentary style with F.W. Murnau visual sensibilities. The result is one of the last great silent era films. The naturalistic setting is perfectly matched by the realistic acting of the non-traditional cast, the local Polynesian people. As a tragic love story, the plot is deceptively simple, yet it is unexpectedly engaging. Murnau's expressionist background continues to be expressed through his artful use of light and shadow. His decision not to use inter-titles to explain dialogue was perhaps the most fitting to the story and the setting, leaving the majority of the plot development to the actions of the characters and the work of the camera (Klaus Ming November 2008).

Director F. W. Murnau's films are always interesting and amazing to watch. However, despite some very positive press concerning this final film, I was rather disappointed. Yes, it was well-made. But, for 1931, doing the film as a silent just seemed a bit old fashioned and out of date--something Murnau NEVER was when directing such classics as NOSFERATU, THE LAST LAUGH and FAUST. These were all highly innovative films and represented the absolute cutting edge in film. But TABU on the other hand just seems stuck and behind the times. While it does have a very interesting story, excellent on-location filming and nice music and sound effects, the film looks like it was made pre-1930 because there were no voices. I am a HUGE fan of silent films, but still feel compelled to complain about this. Not a bad film, but certainly a skipable film and nowhere nearly as well-done as his other movies. Plus, in 1928 (three years before TABU) a very similar film, WHITE SHADOWS IN THE SOUTH SEAS was made and Murnau's tale is of about equal quality.