Tabu
Portugal, Germany, Brazil, France
2012
111 Min
Black and White
1.37:1
Portuguese
Synopsis
Aurora, an elderly Portugese woman and her Cap Verdean housekeeper live next door to Pilar, who has made it her aim in life to do good. Not that she receives any gratitude for her efforts – and certainly not from the notoriously mistrustful Aurora, who prefers to spend her remaining years losing her meagre savings at Estoril casino. When the old lady dies, Pilar discovers among her belongings a letter addressed to an old lover. Pilar decides to post the letter, thus ushering in a flashback to the second part of the film – and adventurous amour fou set in colonial Africa.
Making a film without referring to film history is unthinkable for director Miguel Gomes, and it’s no coincidence that his film has the same title as Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s Tabu. In his third feature film outing Gomes playfully interprets and rearranges historical events. Whilst the first part of his film is in black-and-white and portrays a society wallowing in nostalgia, the second part delivers everything they long for: stirring melodrama, slapstick, juxtaposition and passion. –Berlinale
Director
Miguel Gomes
Miguel Gomes (b. 1972) began first as a film critic before directing a series of refreshingly eccentric short films that revealed his innate talents as a sensual visual stylist interested in an intensely image based narrative in which music plays an equal role to dialogue. Gomes’ early “musical comedies” offer important keys to his feature films by revealing the important inspiration of both musical cinema and the silent film to his uniquely playful and imaginative approach to narrative. The unique energy and puckish charm of Gomes’ little known debut, the Alice in Wonderland-meets-Jacque Rivette narrative puzzle, The Face That You Deserve, took the ludic tendencies of his cinema to a furthest extreme. The festival favorite My Beloved Month of August turned a new and important direction by responding to the “post-documentary” mode of innovative and unclassifiable non-fiction cinema championed by Costa and defined earlier by pioneering works such as Oliveira’s Rite of Spring (1963… read more
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tiagovitoria
15May12
A masterpiece for the portuguese movies. Miguel Gomes did an essay about how previous actions can impact our current life. Filmed in 35mm and 16mm, "TABU" is an existential piece of work who portrays a fantastic and imaginary solitude only lived for those who keep secrets for themselves. The sound and the cinematography in "TABU" are landmarks in the way of filmmaking in the 21st century.
João Oliveira 10
26Apr12
A film about love and despair about a crocodile and a lady about a country and its past, but also and perhaps above all a film about film, its history and its possibilities as magical means of expression. Thanks Miguel Gomes.
chanandre and Dave McDougall like this
Fabio Penela
13Apr12
pure cinephilia, beautifully shot. Gomes strikes back again. european film of the year? now with Tarr out of the scene, are there any other contenders?
Miguel Ferreira likes this
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Miguel Ferreira
15Apr12
still waiting to see this, with great expectations, but... yes, now with Tarr out, you remembered me that sad situation
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Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
Daily Briefing. Cinema Scope 50
By David Hudson on April 20, 2012
Also: A new trailer for Soderbergh’s Magic Mike.
Daily Viewing. Trailer for Miguel Gomes's "Tabu"
By David Hudson on March 28, 2012
Spend two minutes with the most cinephilic film at this year’s Berlinale.
Berlinale 2012. Golden Bear for the Tavianis' "Caesar Must Die"
By David Hudson on February 18, 2012
The full list of all the awards.
Berlinale 2012. Miguel Gomes's "Tabu"
By David Hudson on February 18, 2012
“A living, breathing demonstration of cinephilia in action.”
Daily Briefing. Clips from Miguel Gomes's "Tabu"
By David Hudson on February 14, 2012
Also: David Bordwell on what digital projection is doing to film history.
Berlinale 2012. Ten More World Premieres Set for the Competition
By David Hudson on January 9, 2012
New work by Christian Petzold, the Taviani brothers, Ursula Meier, Miguel Gomes and more.
Berlin 2012 Review: TABU is a Glorious Celebration of Cinema and Crocodiles
By Twitchfilm.com on February 18, 2012
Tabu calls to mind the oft-repeated comparison between film directors and magicians. Indeed, how else but with magic could Portuguese director Miguel Gomes have created such a joyful, enthralling film
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