Rent Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)
3.7 of 5 from 74 ratings
1h 23min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
In 1929, F. W. Mufnau, one of the greatest of all film directors, invited leading documentarist Robert Flaherty to collaborate on a film to be shot on location in Tahiti, a Polynesian idyll in which Murnau imagined a cast of island actors would provide a new form of authentic drama and offer rare insight into their "primitive" culture. The result of their collaboration was Tabu, a film that depicts the details of indigenous island life to tell a mythical tale that is rich in the universal themes of desire and loss. Subtitled "A Story of the South Seas", Tabu concerns a Tahitian fisherman and his love for a young woman whose body has been consecrated to the gods, rendering her tabu as far as mortal men are concerned. The lovers flee their island and its restrictive traditions, but will their love prevail in the "civilised" world? - Actors:
- Anne Chevalier, Matahi, Hitu, Bill Bambridge, Ah Fong, Jules
- Directors:
- F.W. Murnau
- Producers:
- Robert J. Flaherty, F.W. Murnau
- Writers:
- F.W. Murnau, Robert J. Flaherty
- Others:
- Floyd Crosby
- Studio:
- Eureka
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Romance
- Collections:
- 100 Years of German Expressionism, A History of Cinemas in Films, Film History, Masters of Cinema, Nosferatu Times Three, Roger Corman's Poe Cycle, A Brief History of Film..., The Last Laugh: The Film That Changed Cinema, Top 10 Best Last Films: World Cinema, Top Films
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 24/06/2013
- Run Time:
- 86 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby Digital 1.0
- Subtitles:
- None
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Luciano Berriatua 75th anniversary restoration of the pre-Paramount, longer Murnau-approved version of the film, with uncensored scenes and titlecards, appearing in its original 1.19:1 aspect ratio for the first time
- Full-length commentary track by R. Dixon Smith and Brad Stevens
- 15-minute German documentary about Tabu by Luciano Berriatua
- Newly presented outtakes from the original shoot of the film
- 'Treibjagd in der Siidsee' (short subject from 1940 depicting a South Seas fishing hunt, created from unused material from the filming of Tabu)
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Reviews (1) of Tabu: A Story of the South Seas
Classic Docu-drama. - Tabu: A Story of the South Seas review by Steve
Unique collaboration between (arguably) the most celebrated director of the late silent era, and its most famous documentary maker. FW Murnau and Robert Flaherty conceived a dramatic narrative which would also be an ethnological depiction of the people of Bora Bora in the South Seas. Flaherty soon left the project because he felt there was too much drama and not enough ethnology.
So Murnau directed solo a story drawn from the indigenous population. It's a silent film, but with an embedded musical soundtrack. He used local people as his cast and crew, assisted by an American cinematographer, who won the Oscar (Floyd Crosby). And he was fortunate to discover two charismatic amateurs to play the leads.
The actors are credited in their character names. Reri is a young girl chosen for the traditional role of a sacred virgin. But she is in love with Matahi. They run away to an island inhabited by the French colonialists, but are pursued by the indigenous elder (Hitu) and the foreign administrators and police who don't want a tribal war.
Many events are photographed at sea because the people survive off the ocean. And Matahi makes a living as a pearl diver when he escapes from his home. It's a tragedy which probes the iniquities of empire and explores a way of life unfamiliar to western audiences. It benefits hugely from being the (final) work of one of the greatest ever film makers.
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