If The Artist paid homage to the silent films of Hollywood’s golden age, Tabu is its arthouse equivalent.
Borrowing the title and its two-part structure from F.W. Murnau’s Bora Bora-based 1931 film, Miguel Gomes’ poetic paean is a beguiling black-and-white treat – a batty love story that begins in modern-day Lisbon, with aged gambling addict Aurora (Laura Soveral), and concludes in mid-20th-Century Mozambique, recounting an illicit affair our near-senile heroine once had.
It’s this latter segment (narrated, with no dialogue) that captivates as warmly as a fireside tale, blending absurdist humour with tragic romance.
DVD Extras:
- Shorts
