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The brainchild of German genius F.W. Murnau and documentary innovator Robert J. Flaherty (of Nanook of the North (1922) fame), Tabu uses the beautiful, untouched landscape of the South Pacific and employs non- professional natives to tell the beautiful story of love found and lost, and ultimately the death of paradise. Murnau died in an automobile accident shortly before the film's premiere and, thus, was his last gift to the movie-going world. Though it doesn't come close to the iconic expressionist horror of Nosferatu (1922) or the dark, satirical humour of The Last Laugh (1924), Murnau's epitaph is a simple, yet heart- wrenching cinematic poem.

The best spear-fisherman on Bora Bora is a handsome young man billed simply as The Boy (Matahi). His legendary status and unparalleled skill makes him popular amongst the islanders, and soon he has caught the eye of The Girl (Reri - who went on to star on Broadway as Anne Chevalier). They romance each other, but their affair is soon halted by the arrival of emissary The Old Warrior (Hitu), who proclaims Reri as the sacred maiden. She is 'tabu', and cannot be looked upon by any man unless he wishes the punishment of death. The couple brave storm and sea to escape, an arrive in a French-colonised island, where Matahi start work as a pearl diver. But their happiness is fleeting, and Reri is soon haunted by the image of Hitu, terrified she may have angered the gods.

The plot is hardly anything new, but Floyd Crosby's Oscar-winning cinematography makes Tabu more socially aware that the film may have you believe. The subtle yet crucial involvement of the French colonists, finding amusement at Matahi's lack of understanding regarding money and material wealth, is a clear swipe at the creeping of Western civilisation. Bora Bora won't stay pure for much longer. And that adds a gravitas to Matahi and Reri's plight - not only is their romance doomed, but so are their traditions and society. It is one of the last great silent films, a reminder that sound can be an unnecessary distraction, and that picture's can sometimes genuinely speak louder than words.

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In one island of Bora Bora lagoon, a young fisherman, Matahi, is in love with Reri. But she is chosen to be the holy maid and therefore becomes "tabu". They ran away from that tradition. Will they be happier and luckier in the more "civilized" society?

Sadly, this was to be F. W. Murnau's last film. Despite a short life, he made many great films (including this one)... and then came a car accident that left us without another three or four decades of genius.

On the bright side, cinematographer Floyd Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on this film. Crosby went on to work for a great many years, bringing out the best in such directors as Roger Corman. In "Tabu", he uses the camera to tell a story without words -- body language and eye movement tell us almost everything we need to follow the plot.

The film was not a box office success upon release, grossing just $472,000 worldwide, which failed to recoup Murnau and Paramount's investment. This seems odd today, when it is considered a classic, but there is no secret that critically successful films and commercially successful films are not always the same thing.

The Image DVD features commentary by film historian Janet Bergstrom, which is quite excellent. Other editions feature other commentary, but I have not heard it and cannot compare.

For discerning fans of classic filmmaking, the surviving work of director F.W. Murnau remains some of the most significant and stunning of the silent era. Filmed entirely in Tahiti, `Tabu' would prove to be Murnau's last film (he died in a tragic car accident on March 11, 1931, just weeks before the film's premiere) and most unusual - he actually collaborated with director Robert Flaherty (`Nanook of the North') in this tale of two doomed lovers that unintentionally transports `Romeo and Juliet' into the South Pacific. Unlike his landmark expressionist titles such as `Nosferatu' and `Faust,' Murnau's `Tabu' is set mostly outdoors and features dazzling images of beautiful young native men and women at home in their Polynesian paradise in the first part of the film, with haunting images used to chronicle tragedy and paradise lost in the second half of the 81 minute classic.

Although no members of the cast were professional actors, the performances by Matahi (as a young pearl fisherman) and Reri (as the `tabu' island girl) are moving. More than 70 years after its release, `Tabu' remains essential viewing, and UCLA's restoration of this classic has been a highlight of the schedule of new DVD releases in 2002. In fact, the film's luxurious black-and-white cinematography garnered cameraman Floyd Crosby an Oscar. DVD extras include audio commentary by UCLA Film Professor Janet Bergstrom; outtake footage; theatrical trailer; still gallery; short film titled `Reri in New York.'

People with prejudice against silent films should see "Tabu"; it´s a masterpiece of cinema. The storyline is superb, a struggle not between good and evil, but between human will and fate; there´s a beautiful love story of natives of the South Seas, mystery and suspense; and, to boot, some of the most wonderful sights you´ve ever seen in a b&w flick. The anthropological genius of Robert O´Flaherty, and the creativeness of F.W. Murnau cannot be denied; this is the meeting of two movie titans.

The cinematography of this film puts most modern films to shame. You don't even notice it is a silent film because every scene is self-explanatory and needs little or no dialogue. The actors were great considering they were not professionals. The direction is superb. This is a must see film; silent or otherwise.

There has never been another film like "Tabu". This is a unique blending of ethnographic documentary and expressionist drama, from two directors who were masters of these forms.

The actors are real Polynesians and their ceremonies and rituals are faithfully captured, and interwoven with a tragic love story. The cinematography deservedly won an Oscar - it is truly beautiful. Murnau, away from his usual studio sets, manages to create the same sense of danger using natural light - especially moonlight - and real locations.

The performances are very strong - especially Chevalier as the girl, and the old man is as scary as Nosferatu as he haunts her dreams at night.

Sadly this was Murnau's last film - he died in a car crash just before the premiere. It is a little dramatically uneven, and certainly not the masterpiece that "Sunrise" is, but it is still very worthwhile.

"Tabu" is a visually arresting black-and-white silent...and that's a good thing because there's not much else going on here to occupy your mind. Heavy-handed "plot" about a doomed beauty on primitive Bora Bora who flees her island home and family with her lover, unable to escape her unlucky fate, is cast with real islanders so you cannot fault the authenticity; however, there's nobody in the film who leaves an impression. The movie began life as a documentary, but director F.W. Murnau pushed for a fictional storyline to propel the visuals, and this may have been a mistake. As it unfolds, one can see shot after shot of beautiful images that would look wonderful in a coffee-table book for the tiki lounge set, but the dated dramatics muddy things up. Floyd Crosby won a well-deserved Oscar for his cinematography. **1/2 from ****

The movie is no way near as a good as Murnau's most previous movies, mainly because it isn't really anything innovation. For his standards, this is a pretty standard piece of work. This no doubt also has to do with the fact that during the beginning of production acclaimed documentary maker Robert J. Flaherty (the man who also made "Nanook of the North") was also at the helm but slowly got pushed away by F.W. Murnau as filming progressed. Two captains on one ship just never work out, especially not when they have different expertise's. It's the reason why the movie at times looks as if its a documentary about the natives and at others the movie follows obviously a story. But having said that this is no way near close to being F.W. Murnau's best, says nothing about the quality of this actual film. It's a worthy enough last picture of the German director, who gave us movies such as "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens", "Der Letzte Mann" and "Faust", before dying in a car crash, one week before the release of this movie. He was one of the most influential directors of the silent film era, even though this last movie doesn't fully does justice to this reputation.

The movie just wasn't always much interesting to me. Perhaps I just didn't liked or cared enough about its subject of a group of natives on Bora-Bora. The movie of course looks visually good and shows lot of the customs and lifestyle of the natives but the story just doesn't ever get off the ground. Perhaps this is also due to the fact that this is a silent movie, so without any dialogs but also without title cards as well. It only uses some monologues and a couple of letters that are being read and written by some of the characters within the movie.

A 'movie' that is worth a watch but don't expect anything typical Murnau.

7/10

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"Taboe" is the last film of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. He made it together with Robert Flaherty, father of the documentary and ethnographic film. In my opinion the combination proves to be however less than the sum of the constituent parts. The film is not a real Murnau and also not a real Flaherty, but something stuck in the middle.

In 1927 with "Sunrise" Murnau had already made a film about a couple that seemed to be doomed. "Tabu" is not of the same quality as "Sunrise", although there are a couple of scenes that come close. I am thinking especially about the scenes of the initiation ritual of Reri (the girl), the wedding scene of Reri and Matahi (the boy) and the tragic ending scene.

The scene of the initiation ritual is somewhat cynical. We see young people performing a very sensual dance, but at the same time the purpose of the ritual is to declare a girl as holy virgin. After the ceremony a normal sex life will be strictly forbidden for this girl.

Director F.W. Murnau wisely stuck with the silent film medium he knew so well to cover this story of native islander life in the South Seas. The documentary style works very well for the first half of the movie. The landscapes are beautiful, and the daily life activities of the islanders are interesting to watch. The film loses momentum, though, when it begins to concentrate more on the narrative story of two doomed lovers. The storyline just never gets that interesting, despite being handled well by Murnau. Won an Academy Award for best cinematography, although the award probably should have been for best scenery. You can't really credit the DP for getting to shoot in such a beautiful location.

Tabu might best be described as ethnographic-fiction which combines Robert J. Flaherty's documentary style with F.W. Murnau visual sensibilities. The result is one of the last great silent era films. The naturalistic setting is perfectly matched by the realistic acting of the non-traditional cast, the local Polynesian people. As a tragic love story, the plot is deceptively simple, yet it is unexpectedly engaging. Murnau's expressionist background continues to be expressed through his artful use of light and shadow. His decision not to use inter-titles to explain dialogue was perhaps the most fitting to the story and the setting, leaving the majority of the plot development to the actions of the characters and the work of the camera (Klaus Ming November 2008).

This beautiful and simple story of a South Seas love and loss romance might be the last great silent from the era. Along with City Lights (made the same year) it may well be credited as the apogee of the silent period even with the writing on the wall ( microphones in the plants) since 1927.

On the island of Bora Bora experiencing the full bloom of youth and beauty a girl and boy find love. Her radiance however is coveted by the Old Warrior who holds huge sway over his people as he demands she be his next wife. The lovers run off, find safe haven and employment on a more "civilized island" where the locals and Asian merchants exploit their innocence. Bribing a local cop, he's allowed to stay on but the threat of the Old Warrior causes vacillation on the girl's part who struggles with the fact that the only way to save her lover is to leave him.

FW Murnau's last film was fraught with budget and personality difficulties as he and his co-director Robert Flaherty did not see eye to eye. Distilling to a native crew and relying on Floyd Crosby's outstanding capture of the island paradise, it's people and the unabashed joie de vivre of a life in the sun Murnau movingly follows his doomed duo stranded in Eden, hunted by a stoic resolve that builds to a dire crescendo. Trapped by tradition, exploited by modern society Murnau paints his pair of protagonists into a corner and in the process paints a masterpiece of simple storytelling of his own.

Watching as much stuff as I do, it was a matter of time before I got to another Murnau movie. Actually coming to think about it, it took way longer than one might have expected. That being said I doubt that this will touch a nerve as much as some of his other work did. Not because I think this isn't any good. No I'd say this is very well made, especially considering the circumstances and the time it was made (almost a hundred years ago).

This being b/w and "silent" already may make it something that some people will rather stray away from. You can't blame those for feeling this has not aged well. Technically speaking - but that is to ex-and suspected. If you can suspend your disbelief and concentrate on the (love) story ... on the story of fate and will ... this has mystery and suspense to boost to keep you on the edge for its entire short running time.

Taboo: (among the Polynesians and other peoples of the South Pacific) the system, practice, or act whereby things are set apart as sacred, forbidden for general use, or placed under a prohibition or interdiction.

In this nearly all Polynesian cast movie, there were two taboos. The first taboo was Reri (Anne Chevalier), the virgin designated to be chaste and untouched as a means of appeasing the gods. The second taboo was a spot in the water that was off limits to pearl divers. Both taboos were challenged.

Early in the movie Reri and Matahi fell in love. Ordinarily that wouldn't be a problem except that Reri, unbeknownst to her, was selected to be "the sacred virgin" whom "man must not touch... or cast upon her the eye of desire." This was a big blow to her and Matahi, but why let a little thing like tradition and the threat of death stop love?

Reri and Matahi didn't. They ran off to another island where they could be together, but the threat to Matahi's life and Reri being taken back would be ever-present.

This movie was able to do a lot with a little. There was no dialogue. Only a few times we got additional information in the form of letters and such. The rest of the story we had to understand from actions and visible emotions like the silent movies from earlier in the century.

I would be lying if I said that the Polynesian cast wasn't a plus. It was exciting to see a movie featuring people of color in their own environment, and the story was great.

It's a classic story, regaling audiences with ageless themes: clashes between community versus individuality, love versus duty, and tradition versus progress; rebellion, risk, consequences, exploitation. It's gratifying that the cast largely consisted of locals, and while the apparent cost-cutting intent is dubious, it's refreshing, too, that F. W. Murnau trained locals to employ them as his crew. The filming locations and general production history add context for this rendition of timeless ideas that make it stand out even among many others: 90 years later, 'Tabu' remains a worthy work of cinema.

In its themes, particularly, and in its narrative broadly, 'Tabu' represents a tale that has played out across every culture throughout history. Murnau (and more or less film-making partner Robert Flaherty) clearly aimed for authenticity in this portrayal, with every aspect of the feature geared toward making 'A story of the south seas' feel as genuine as it could be. Every spotlighted element of islander life brings the tropical locale to us with vivid realization as the camera captures all, and once the plot picks up the movie readily holds our attention despite the familiarity. The picture is plentifully exciting without any need for sound or dialogue.

An extra bit of flavoring I especially enjoy is the stylization given to intertitles here. Only in a couple sparing instances are we given pure narration. Instead the emphasis is on scrolls, journal entries, or notes that serve the same purpose of both dialogue and establishing text. This is a touch that, without sacrificing any communication of story beats, in some sense manages to make the feature seem more natural, fluid, and cohesive. It's a small thing, but I admire the distinction. On a like note, we're treated to a couple swell uses of editing that still seem pretty advanced for 1931. Furthermore, I think the cast performs admirably - not professional actors, but capably depicting all necessary emotions and carrying the picture.

It's not necessarily entirely perfect. The very first scene seems to drag on interminably, and well-written as the climax is, the ending feels marginally underwhelming. Regardless of any subjective weaknesses, however, overall 'A story of the south seas' is satisfyingly solid, and engrossing. From standpoints of both film-making and storytelling it stays, even in retrospect, an entertaining feature that is just as deserving of an audience in 2021 as it was in 1931. While it's not the most profound title you'll ever watch, that it still holds up counts for a lot. 'Tabu' is a fine film, a silent classic worth checking out wherever one may find it.

I wasn't really at all sure what I was about to watch when I put this Blu-ray in and I'm not really certain, after watched, what it was either. There is a large booklet and several extras and apparently even more reels and reels of unseen footage and yet this celebrated offering seems really to be the result of an aborted mission to combine the talents of F W Murnau and Robert Flaherty. Trouble is this beautifully looking artefact is neither a wondrous and informative documentary nor an involving and poetic tale. Even the opening scenes, apparently more the work of Flaherty are idyllic scenes of young, indigenous peoples fishing and cavorting but infected by an overreaching urge to pose and further idealise the goings on. Things get much worse when the hand of Murau becomes firmer and a fairytale like story is woven from the innocence that abounds thereby adding some Disney like veneer to proceedings. Everything looks good and why would it not o a South Sea island but the pushy, preachy manner in which the 'actors' are prodded into action and 'artistic' positions reminds me of early so called documentaries where animals were supplied with human voices to make them less like wild animals. Remarkable footage then and well enough put together. Must have been hell out there with all that primitive and unwieldy equipment even if there were the lovely native boys and girls by way of compensation.

Tabu : A Story Of The South Seas (1931) : Brief Review -

A Suitable Classic End to the Legendary Filmography of Master F. W. Murnau. Tabu means Taboo (in English) and Murnau's tragic love tale set in South seas tried breaking a taboo set by other love saga which end typically either on happy note or sad one. The best explanation of this film in modern language is, it's a Romeo-Juliet tale with a haunting and taboo-breaking ending. On the South Pacific island of Bora Bora, a young couple's love is threatened when the tribal chief declares the girl a sacred virgin. The couple escapes and lives on some other Island far away from tribal community where they get exploited by western civilization. The film ends with an artistic expression but i am not sure whether everyone will understand the same meaning of it. Some might take it as a tragedy and some might find metaphorical touch related to the word 'Tabu'. I am going with the second theory because i liked it more and it was different from typical tragic end. Murnau's poetic and ornamental storytelling gives it a regional touch in which the entire tribal universe looks fascinating. He also trained natives to work in the film as crew members and actors to make it look more real. And all the actors in the film actually looked like living the characters as they didn't have to act professionally. Cinematography of Crosby won the deserving Oscar doll and one must notice how he shot those long shots on Seas and quick takes on shore. Unfortunately this was Murnau's last time and i feel very sad that we missed many classics he would have made later. But i am happy that even his last film suits the high standard of his legendary Filmography. Overall, Tabu is proper send off to the Master Director and even with his last he didn't fail to impress. He made a classy thing yet again and left so influences from this one too.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest

Though beautifully shot, this is - in fact - rather a horrible film! Set on the peaceful and beautiful island of Bora Bora, we meet a young girl "Reri" (Anne Chavalier) who is selected by the chief to be the next sacred virgin. This is an honour, a position that will earn her respect and comfort but it will deny her that which she craves the most - her true love (Matahi). Desperate, the two decide to abscond and he finds himself eking a living in a more venal, European, community where his angry Gods lack any power but where his lack of familiarity with the very concept of money soon sees him, quite literally, swimming in a sea of debt. Meantime, the chief back home (Hitu) has declared that there needs to be a search for them that involves the police (Bill Bambridge). When the officer tracks them down and they face arrest, the young man resorts to even more dangerous diving - amidst sharks - to obtain the pearls he needs to pay off his creditors so they can skedaddle again. Of course, the best laid plans and all that, and when he returns to their shack, he finds that she has decided to sacrifice her happiness and return to their home... Can they reunite? This film cleverly marries a mixture of ritualism and emotion, and illustrates really quite clearly just how incompatible they can be. A young couple doing no harm to anyone, in a nation that would ordinarily embrace their affection, find themselves forced by superstition to flee, to compromise and to live in fear. The whole film has a futility to it that's writ large and is actually quite exasperating to watch. Leave them be, for heaven's sake! Find another virgin? I'm not sure if F. W. Murnau is having a go at religiosity, or at the fallibility of love itself - and that ambiguity makes this all the more interesting to watch. The fact that even they knew their relationship was likely to end in disappointing failure still didn't deter them from earning the enmity of their leaders and the authorities - yet instinct and their visceral need for each other overrode those palpably presented dangers. That the setting is so idealistic and benign seems to rub salt into their wounds and as love stories go, this is probably the one that most tugged on my heart-strings. It does look super on a big screen if you can, and the subject does give a rich bed for the accompanist to play both rousingly and tenderly.

In my opinion, Lang was always the superior German filmmaker. Murnau's films are simply boring when compared to other films of his era, and Tabu is no exception. Murnau expects us to care about the love story, but he rarely shows any intimate moments between the two other than their sleeping. The scenes are long-winded and spoon-fed. However, I have no doubt that just seeing a Polynesian island people on location was a spectacle for American audiences at the time who had probably never even seen a PI before, even in pictures. The film unfortunately can't decide if it's a documentary or a fictional love story. It had potential to be something different, like a critique of colonialism, but it never follows this potential.