Tabu Photos

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Cast

Teresa Madruga
as Pilar

Laura Soveral
as Old Aurora

Ana Moreira
as Young Aurora

Carloto Cotta
as Young Ventura

Henrique Espírito Santo
as Old Ventura

Isabel Cardoso
as Santa

Ivo Muller
as Aurora's Husband

Manuel Mesquita
as Mário

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Critic Reviews for Tabu

Audience Reviews for Tabu

• Apr 14, 2014

  A beautiful dicotomy of visual poetry and lyricism that evokes powerful feelings of nostalgia, romance and emotional connection to the irrational passions of the characters and an exotic connection to foreign lands, <i>Tabu</i> shows an impeccable versatility from the scope of Miguel Gomes, and the final product is a marvel to behold and seems like a film made by two entirely different directors. The second half particularly shares an important number of silent cinema traits, from the filming style to the reactions and physiognomy of the characters, which irremediably forces us to think about Murnau's legendary art pieces. With a great score and soundtrack and an expert cinematography, we are taken to two different worlds, not only separated by distance but also by time, inviting us to share the feelings evoked by the distant images and the voiceover guiding us to build an own judgment. I am a sucker for this kind of dramas which places two white (most of the times wealthy) characters that are in love with each other put against the backdrop of a distant native territory while facing their own romantic impulses. Yet, Gomes allows the story to flow smoothly and takes the appearance of a humble love letter rather than a Hollywood melodrama, therefore surpassing any of the prolonged epic romances that Meryl Streep had during the 80s and 90s, including Africa. Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, <i>Tabu</i> revives your classic story set in foreign lands as a tribute to the work of an old German master through what has been mentioned above: visual poetry and lyricism. For some odd reason, this feels much more like the product of Latin America during the 60s. 83/100
  Edgar C Super Reviewer
• Dec 27, 2013

  With a gorgeous black-and-white cinematography and an impressive thematic rigor, this is a welcome surprise of tremendous poetry, a film that confronts frustration and memory as a lyrical homage to silent movies accompanied by a haunting narration.
  Carlos M Super Reviewer
• Nov 03, 2013

  After a lonely old woman dies in Lisbon, her ex-lover tells of their tempestuous affair in colonial Africa in a dialogue-free flashback. The second half of the film is a stylistically appealing melodrama, but the first hour is slow, emotionally flat, and basically unnecessary.
  Greg S Super Reviewer
• Jan 06, 2013

  "Tabu" starts with Pilar(Teresa Madruga), a middle aged woman, watching a period piece about a tropical explorer who kills himself after being confonted by a ghost. In real life, she is stood up at the Lisbon airport by a young Polish woman she was hoping to host. That leaves her plenty of time to cope with Aurora(Laura Soveral), her elderly neighbor, after Santa(Isabel Cardoso), Aurora's maid, alerts her to her going to a casino where she promptly loses all of her money before possibly pawning her furs for a return trip. Pilar is in charge because Aurora's grown daughter made only a hasty visit when she returned to Portugal for the holidays to visit her husband's family. "Tabu" is a beguiling allegory about how Portugal deals, or does not deal with, its colonial past, as the past seems insistent on returning to haunt the present. For example, Aurora is not merely going senile but becoming her younger self again.(That might explain a crocodile making an appearance in both the prologue and the second half. Or maybe the director just likes crocodiles.) By contrast, Santa and Pilar seem intent on breaking such a cycle; Santa by reading 'Robinson Crusoe' while Pilar takes up various forms of activism. As time moves day by day in the present and by the month in the past, both have a lovely colorless dreamlike intensity while the past has sound effects, musical numbers but no dialogue. At least in Portugal, they take down their Christmas decorations in a timely fashion.
  Walter M Super Reviewer

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