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Tabu

  • 20122012
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 58m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
7K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Tabu (2012)
A restless retired woman teams up with her deceased neighbor's maid to seek out a man who has a secret connection to her past life as a farm owner at the foothill of Mount Tabu in Africa.
Play trailer2:09
1 Video
83 Photos
  • Drama
  • Romance
A restless retired woman teams up with her deceased neighbor's maid to seek out a man who has a secret connection to her past life as a farm owner at the foothill of Mount Tabu in Africa.A restless retired woman teams up with her deceased neighbor's maid to seek out a man who has a secret connection to her past life as a farm owner at the foothill of Mount Tabu in Africa.A restless retired woman teams up with her deceased neighbor's maid to seek out a man who has a secret connection to her past life as a farm owner at the foothill of Mount Tabu in Africa.
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
7K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Miguel Gomes
  • Writers
    • Miguel Gomes
    • Mariana Ricardo
  • Stars
    • Telmo Churro
    • Miguel Gomes(voice)
    • Hortêncílio Aquina
Top credits
  • Director
    • Miguel Gomes
  • Writers
    • Miguel Gomes
    • Mariana Ricardo
  • Stars
    • Telmo Churro
    • Miguel Gomes(voice)
    • Hortêncílio Aquina
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 25User reviews
    • 145Critic reviews
    • 78Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 20 wins & 46 nominations

    Videos1

    U.S. Version
    Trailer 2:09
    U.S. Version

    Photos83

    Telmo Churro in Tabu (2012)
    Isabel Cardoso in Tabu (2012)
    Laura Soveral in Tabu (2012)
    Carloto Cotta in Tabu (2012)
    Ana Moreira and Carloto Cotta in Tabu (2012)
    Miguel Gomes in Tabu (2012)
    Tabu (2012)
    Tabu (2012)
    Ana Moreira in Tabu (2012)
    Ana Moreira and Ivo Müller in Tabu (2012)
    Carloto Cotta in Tabu (2012)
    Ana Moreira in Tabu (2012)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Telmo Churro
    Telmo Churro
    • Intrepid exploreras Intrepid explorer
    Miguel Gomes
    Miguel Gomes
    • Narratoras Narrator
    • (voice)
    Hortêncílio Aquina
    • Porteras Porter
    Américo Mota
    • Porteras Porter
    Valentim Hortêncílio
    • Porteras Porter
    • (as Valentim Hortencílio)
    Artur Januário
    • Porteras Porter
    Mariana Ricardo
    • Explorer's wifeas Explorer's wife…
    Teresa Madruga
    Teresa Madruga
    • Pilaras Pilar
    Maya Kosa
    • Polish womanas Polish woman
    Isabel Cardoso
    Isabel Cardoso
    • Santaas Santa
    Laura Soveral
    Laura Soveral
    • Auroraas Aurora
    Vítor Manuel
    • Guideas Guide
    Cândido Ferreira
    Cândido Ferreira
    • Painteras Painter
    Maria José Ricardo
    • Literacy teacheras Literacy teacher
    Joana Cunha Ferreira
    • Pilar's friendas Pilar's friend
    Araceli Fuente Basconcillos
    • Pilar's friendas Pilar's friend
    Vasco Pimentel
    • Demonstration spokesmanas Demonstration spokesman…
    Paulo Amorim
    • Polish manas Polish man
    • Director
      • Miguel Gomes
    • Writers
      • Miguel Gomes
      • Mariana Ricardo
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The movie that Aurora was said to have participated in, "It will never snow again over Kilimanjaro", is, of course, fictional.
    • Goofs
      At 1:20:48 a women appears to be using a cell phone or a mobile phone (the film is based on the sixties).
    • Connections
      References Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)
    • Soundtracks
      Variações Pindéricas Sobre a Insensatez
      Written and performed by Joana Sá

    User reviews25

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    A film like no other. Unmissable
    This is a tough film to discuss in 500 words. It's so multifaceted, textural and moody. I'll try my hardest, but from the off, I must suggest that you just experience Tabu for yourself. You may have a different experience or opinion to me, you may feel the exact same. Either way, you won't regret it.

    Borrowing the name, two-part structure and love affair-plus-colonisation premise from F.W. Murnau's 1931 classic, Miguel Gomes' Tabu is a film of unmistakable vintage. But it's magnificently subversive too. With one foot in the past, one in the future and a head orbiting in it's own artistic universe, it's a little thing of beguiling beauty.

    Tabu opens with a tragicomic prologue centring around an exasperated explorer trekking through the harsh jungles of Southern Africa. Through Gomes' voice-over narration, we learn that he is distraught over the death of his wife some years ago, and this lost adventure will be his last. No crocodile tears on display, but there is an ominous little croc that lingers through the sequence - and the rest of the film - with cold, mournful eyes. In a word, stunning.

    From here, we begin with the chapter "A LOST PARADISE". In something that resembles a present day Lisbon, we meet our leading lady Aurora (Laura Soveral). A compulsive gambler whose memories are slipping away from her, yet images of hairy monkeys and African farmers still manage to pervade her dreams. Whilst she tries to recall her youth with altruistic next-door-neighbour Pilar (Teresa Madruga) and Santa (Isabel Cardoso), a black woman whom Aurora often woefully calls a housemaid/tyrannous witch, the fatalism of the prologue suggests that Aurora will only be able to relive her glory days in the afterlife.

    Cue part 2, "PARADISE". Told through vivid flashbacks and narration from former lover Gian- Luca Venture, we're finally made aware of Aurora's past once lost. Married to a wealthy farmer in the idyllic rural setting of Mozambique, Aurora embarks on a fiery affair with the devilishly handsome nomad Ventura, after her eager pet crocodile crossed the forbidden line into his neighbouring garden. It's a time of lost innocence and furtive whispers, so Gomes decides to strip away all forms of diegetic sound, leaving just the bodies and faces of incredible actors Ana Moreira and Carloto Cotta to express this simple, enduring love.

    Like Leos Carax's comeback success Holy Motors, Tabu is a film entrenched in film history and scholarly technique (unsurprising considering that they both started out as film critics). But Gomes goes one step further. Filmed in intoxicating black & white by cinematographer Rui Poças, Tabu is beautifully photographed; from the alarmingly stark opening image of a sweaty explorer looking lost in an African jungle, to the final image of a baby crocodile turning away from the camera and crawling out of frame. In an inspired touch, the two halves are filmed in different film stocks – the first in familiar 35mm, and the second in exquisitely old-fashioned 16mm. They mingle together to create a film with a perennial quality, existing as a piece of cinematic artifice but with a modern, reflexive twist.

    Similarly, the sound construction is unnervingly good. Mixing the deadened silence with ambient sounds, poetic narration and a Portuguese rendition of "Be My Little Baby" (made famous by The Ronettes) the composite sonisphere speaks for the unspoken, tabooed love to exceptionally powerful effect.

    Because the film's aesthetic is so dazzling, it's easy to lose track of the whimsical storyline. Based on diary entries and private letters, it has a very nostalgic feel, similar to Chris Marker's Sans Soleil. Just like that film, Tabu isn't a perfect movie, there's pacing issues and Gomes seems to be wrestling with three separate endings. But there's enough moments of unforgettable virtuosity, grace and intellect to make Tabu unmissable.

    More reviews at www.366movies.com
    helpful•31
    5
    • octopusluke
    • Dec 7, 2012

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 5, 2012 (Portugal)
    • Countries of origin
      • Portugal
      • Germany
      • Brazil
      • France
      • Spain
    • Languages
      • Portuguese
      • English
      • Polish
    • Also known as
      • Tabú
    • Filming locations
      • Lisbon, Portugal
    • Production companies
      • O Som e a Fúria
      • Komplizen Film
      • Gullane
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,108,473
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 58 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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