Tabu: A Story of the South Seas

This page is dedicated to F.W. Murnau who died in a car crash a week before the film's release

Tabu: A Story of the South Seas, sometimes simply called Tabu, is a 1931 American silent film directed by F. W. Murnau. A docufiction, it is split into two chapters: The first, called "Paradise", depicts the lives of two lovers on a South Seas island until they are forced to escape the island when the girl is chosen as a holy maid to the gods. The second chapter, "Paradise Lost", depicts the couple's life on a colonised island and how they adapt to and are exploited by Western civilisation. The title comes from the Polynesian concept of tapu (spelled tabu in Tongan before 1943), from which is derived the English word "taboo".

Why It Rocks

 * 1) In contrast to F.W. Murnau's earlier films, this film has the director rely on improvised shooting techniques, use a cast of natives/non-professionals and blends ethnographic curiosity with romantic drama as he examines the dangers faced by lovers who break the rules of society in Bora Bora.
 * 2) Despite the native actors being non-professionals that either rarely or never acted before, they still do a decent job with their performances in the film.
 * 3) Prior to the two main sections, “Paradise” (which portrays an optimistic and nostalgic yet simple life among island natives with two lovers who fall in love until the woman is taken away for religious reasons) and “Paradise Lost,” (where the two lovers travel to a colonized island, and is overall a modified critique of western colonization) there's a fantastic prologue where a wandering European holidaymaker decked out in colonial khakis wallows in his own melancholy, as the indigenous help scuttle around him. The scene suggests the hazy amnesiac wistfulness of Guy Maddin by way of Ernest Hemingway.
 * 4) Interesting premise with the film as it centers around a young man and woman fall who in love, thereby violating a local taboo, and their romance ends in inevitable tragedy.
 * 5) Despite the film being made on a low-budget, it's as intensely controlled as Sunrise -- his Hollywood debut. Like the aformentioned film, the angles and shadows seem to predict the characters' destinies pinning them in confortations and choices they'd rather avoid. Yet, Tabu feels more personal than Sunrise; While both films showcase Mureau's distrust of civilization, Sunrise found a cure of sorts in a rural culture, but nothing can stop hostility in Tabu. The doomed romance is likely a parallel to the director's personal life.
 * 6) As F.W. Murnau was known from doing expressionistic films, This film uses inter-titles and exaggerated gestures that typified most silent films, and reveals plot points visually through journal entries, newspaper articles and signs. It's pretty much a "picture poem" of 'paradise' and 'paradise lost.' It captures the sense of longing and loss fully and beautifully. It's one of the fullest expressions of the art of silent cinema. While Murnau's previous films were products of the silent era, Tabu has a timeless feel to it, and is still surprisingly relevant to this day.
 * 7) Floyd Crosby provides absolutely lush cinematography with the film being shot in Tahiti, stand-outs including glittering reflections and sinuous movements of the ocean.
 * 8) A very impressive factor is that the film had a very troubled production -- Murnau’s turbulent relationship in Hollywood; troubles with his financier; disputes with his co-director Robert Flaherty on the film; both of them nearing the brink of bankruptcy right up until the film’s release; and above all Murnau’s sudden death right before its release -- the film still managed to turn out incredibly well, which is a total miracle.

The Film
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