Tabu is a rare work that manages to draw on the past while creating something that feels very modern indeed.
It's occasionally perverse...but also lushly romantic.
A hypnotic narrative that lingers in the mind long after its subtly constructed conclusion.
A satisfying saunter on the weird side.
If it isn’t the year’s best, I can’t wait to see what that might be.
Gomes handles this intermingling of past and present with a humane and steady gaze, and in the character of Aurora reminds us that the old – those relics – were once as wild and alive as the young.
It’s too bad then that the silent cinema-influenced conceit – enriched by the fact that the film is shot in black-and-white in the old square-shaped Academy ratio – eventually feels more like a superficial trick than a dramatically engaging storytelling choice. That’s partly because the dual stories of lost love and regret it’s supposed to be underscoring feels fairly humdrum.
Cinephilia gives the film its flavour, but the simple, forthright human drama is what's important.
It would take a truly reptilian soul not to love it.
Naively simplistic in its narrative, opaque in its politics, the movie's appeal is hard to understand.
While Tabu is outwardly melancholic, it’s profusion of hardships actually translates into the rousing sentiment; we must struggle forwards despite the challenges.
Miguel Gomes, director of Tabu--interview
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Friday September 7, 2012, until Thursday September 13, 2012. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/
Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee from Friday September 14, 2012, until Thursday September 20, 2012. More info: www.dca.org.uk
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Friday November 9, 2012, until Thursday November 15, 2012. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com
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