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Tabu

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Tabu (1931)

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Reviews Counted:8

Fresh:8

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.2/10

Runtime: 84 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Filmed in Tahiti, the story of a fisherman who falls in love with a beguiling woman who has been forbidden to men. German Expressionist director F.W. Murnau's last film is one of the most gorgeous... Filmed in Tahiti, the story of a fisherman who falls in love with a beguiling woman who has been forbidden to men. German Expressionist director F.W. Murnau's last film is one of the most gorgeous black & white films ever made. Pioneering documentarian Robert Flaherty (NANOOK OF THE NORTH) co-directed the film, which won the Academy Award for "Best Cinematography." [More]

Starring: Anna Chevalier, Matahi

Starring: Anna Chevalier, Matahi

Director: F.W. Murnau, Robert J. Flaherty

Director: F.W. Murnau, Robert J. Flaherty
Composer: Hugo Riesenfeld, Frederic Chopin, Bedrich Smetana

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Release:

Sep 3, 2002

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Filmed entirely in Tahiti, "Tabu" represents an unusual collaboration between legendary directors F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu, Sunrise) and Robert Flaherty (Nanook of the North). Two lovers are doomed by a tribal edict decreeing that the girl is "tabu" to all men. While the lovers' flight from judgment and the ultimate power of the tabu are reminiscent of Murnau's expressionist films, "Tabu" is all open air and sunlight, sparkling on the ocean and glistening on the beautiful young bodies of the native men and women. Now available completely uncensored and restored by UCLA, this cinematic landmark is one of the most gorgeous black and white films ever made, and was the 1931 Academy Award winner for Best Cinematography.
  • Source: Image Entertainment, Inc.
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    Reviews for Tabu

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    1 - 9 (sorted by date)
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    Magnificent, filled with shimmering, luminescent images that evoke both paradise and paradise lost.

    Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
    08/29/06
    TV Guide's Movie Guide

    It is like a picture poem, with its sunshine and happiness in the beginning and its stormy drama in the end.

    Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
    01/28/06
    Mordaunt Hall
    Mordaunt Hall
    New York Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    06/30/05
    Emanuel Levy
    Emanuel Levy
    EmanuelLevy.Com

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    05/19/05
    Thomas Delapa
    Thomas Delapa
    Boulder Weekly

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    04/07/05
    Andy Klein
    Andy Klein
    Los Angeles CityBeat

    If D.W. Griffith created the language of film, he left it up to his successors to add their own personal esthetics. On the short list of the cinema's all time greatest artists belongs the name F.W. Murnau.

    Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
    03/16/04
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Combustible Celluloid
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
    05/24/03
    Channel 4 Film

    As with so many other great films, this one carries its own burden of real life sorrow.

    Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
    11/03/02
    John G. Nettles
    John G. Nettles
    PopMatters

    The exquisite tragic ending -- conceived musically and rhythmically as a gradually decelerating diminuendo -- is one of the pinnacles of silent cinema.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Jonathan Rosenbaum
    Jonathan Rosenbaum
    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
     
     
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