Tabu Reviews

Since this movie seemed to have a solid reputation (it is included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list among other things), I was quite eager to check it out. I wonder if it was, after ‘Nosferatu’, only the 2^nd movie directed by Murnau that I have seen so far and it is quite impressive how the two movies were so different from each other. With this in mind, I’m not surprised that Murnau was considered as one of the great masters of silent movies and I should definitely check his other movies. Eventually, what I enjoyed the most about this movie was its visual aspect. Indeed, the vintage footage was quite beautiful to look at and, while ‘Nosferatu’ was a dark fantastical tale and still one of the best horror movies ever made, this movie was so luminous with some gorgeous natural landscapes. It also felt quite realistic (at least, it seemed to be) and I wonder if they made up all this ‘tabu’ stuff or if it was some actual tradition in Bora Bora back in those days. Anyway, they basically gave a mix of some realistic beautiful exotic footage from this remote island with a basic but efficient doomed love tale and this mix worked surprisingly well. Still, eventually, even if the damned thing was very well made, the story was still too basic for my taste though. The biggest issue was the fact that none of the characters was developed whatsoever. Sure, on one hand, it did give the character some ‘purity’ but, on the other hand, it also deprived them of any kind of complexity. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely blow me away, it was still a solid watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.