Tabu: A Story of the South Seas

USA 1931 | F.W. Murnau | intertitres EN | 78′ | 35mm | Cast : Matahi, Anne Chevalier, Bill Bambridge, Hitu 

► Best Cinematography, Oscars 1931

► Accompagnement au piano par Hughes Maréchal

On the island of Bora-Bora, a pearl fisherman falls in love with a young girl destined to be sacrificed.

« Tabu is the last film of Murnau, who was probably the greatest of all silent directors. The film’s breathtaking beauty and artistry make it indispensable viewing, and exquisite tragic ending – conceived rhythmically as a gradually decelerating diminuendo – is one of the pinnacles of silent cinema. » (1001 Movies)

« The film is a rhapsody of textures and an exceptionally sensuous play of light, rhythm and composition. Its narrative pretext is (necessarily) heterosexual, but Murnau’s homosexual sensibility was never clearer… Fetishistic to a degree, the film is none the less never patronizing to its subject or its actors. It’s extremely beautiful. » (Time Out)