Lovely.

Murnau picks up Flaherty's legacy of ethnographic fiction. Tabu is a film commendable for combining an honest effort to walk in the shoes of people from a primitive South Pacific culture, with wholesome exoticism (unspoiled by our day's repressive political correctness). It has several exciting features such as a pioneering underwater action scene. Sadly, although it is a shorter movie than average, its simplistic plot wears thin and plods for a while before the touching finale.

Tremendous historical value but not much else. The melodrama isn't enough to sustain the film.

And now for something really different.... An island tale featuring real islanders hired on-scene rather that made-up acters borrowed from the stage. It's a good story, though I thought the ending could have been better.

Great to stare at.

#227

Another wonderful silent from Murnau. His visual sensibility is unmatched, the camera so expressive. This is no more true than in the final shot of Matahi in the ocean. Further, the use of light (esp. moonlight) and shadow, as well as the sequences involving dance and ritual, bring a great deal of feeling and weight to the proceedings. Finally, the visual contrast between the film's two halves underlines the film's moral sensibility--sunny and natural in the former, dark and seedy in the latter.

Pretty worthless and dull, except for cute cinematography for time to time. And it's great to stare at.

Maybe it is a classic, but it's also extremely boring.

A pretty and captivating film that combines Flaherty and Murnau's talents well. A touching love story is the thread that brings together beautiful pictures, a look at life in the south pacific and insight into the human condition.

# 203

Starts off pretty dull but improves every act until the outstanding ending. And I'm not just referring to the story, but the technical qualities as well.

211

216

Not as purely an ethnographic study as Nanook of the North, whose director Robert Flaherty had significant input on the film (which started as a co-directorship). Nor is it simply a romance with an exotic, exploitative twist like Legong. It incorporates both these aspects but transcends them, and the end result is a work that's beautifully shot, poetically structured, and has a compelling narrative. And the entirely non-professional cast is impressive as well.