Tabu (2012)

 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2153963/

Many films have been described as love letters to cinema recently, The Artist and Hugo (2011) both garnering critical and commercial success for being such. Miguel Gomes’ latest film Tabu, the Portuguese director incidentally used to be a film critic, gloriously achieves this but in a much more subtle and poetic manner. Tabu, the name of a mountain in Africa within the film and also the name of the last film made by F.W Murnau, is full of glorious black and white cinematography and has an old fashioned square format that immediately conveys the nostalgic spirit of the film. Whilst The Artist is a light hearted comedy, Tabu is a devastating melodrama with the love story at the heart of it providing the roots for the three parts of the film.
It begins with a sort of prologue, a short film about an intrepid explorer from days gone by (19^th Century) who is haunted by a woman as he treks through the lush Savannah with his entourage. There we also meet the ‘sad and melancholic’ crocodile who becomes a recurring motif within the film. This gorgeously shot introduction utilises music and narration in the style of old silent films, it convincingly appearing as a genuine film when it cuts to Part 1 – Paradise Lost and we see Pilar (Teresa Madruga) who is watching the film at the cinema. Seamlessly, we become involved in Pilar’s life, a modern day story in Lisbon with concrete buildings shot just as beautifully as the previous Savannah. Pilar awaits the arrival of a Polish girl who is going to stay with her and worries about her elderly neighbour Aurora who has a gambling habit and seems to be having a breakdown. This section contains dialogue and plenty of it, beautifully constructed; one particular scene as Aurora describes a dream to Pilar is memorable due to the verbose language and unrelenting shot of Aurora. Pilar’s religion plays a large part in her life but her melancholy cannot be completely disguised as we see her again at the cinema crying with the Phil Spector song ‘Be My Baby’ playing. But Pilar’s do-gooder nature results in her going in search of an old friend of Aurora’s and this leads on to Part 2- Paradise. This is a grainy flashback to Aurora’s story in Colonial Africa in the early 1960s, silent albeit for the isolated diegetic sounds such as insects and birds, no dialogue from the characters only a narration. It is this section that tells us of the devastating love story at the heart of the film.
Full of a wealth of details in both the story and the dialogue, this is an extremely well-written film and is absolutely stunning visually. The poetic love story is intelligently constructed, the three parts of the film are worlds apart but all have an underlying consistent theme that brings the film together as a whole. Plants and nature dominate the images, even Part 1, which is set in Lisbon, has a Bird of Paradise plant and butterflies on the wall in Aurora’s house as a clue to her background. It is these small details that make this film absolutely fascinating. With so much to see and interpret this is a film that will benefit from multiple viewings.
Cheerful pop music is juxtaposed with the melancholy of the story and is cleverly used to link the two parts. The shots of the crocodile in the second part, which is used on the stunning poster for the film, are lingering and thoughtful and hark back to the prologue, the film evocatively ending with the same close up image of the reptile. The beautiful landscape shots of Africa are breath taking and it is a fascinating location to set the love affair. This is a truly rich film, complex in its storytelling and a visual treat.
Each section is so distinctly different that it is a real accomplishment to bring them together so effortlessly and draw the audience into this world. Even though it is yet another film embarking on an old-fashioned way of storytelling it felt completely fresh and original, the interweaving narrative succinctly executed. This is a mesmerising film full of brilliant performances, particularly from Laura Soveral as the elderly Aurora. There are plenty of witty moments which balance out the sadness but not too many so it never becomes farcical.
Tabu is an absolutely magical film, never relying on nostalgia alone to carry the film and filling each frame with lavish visual imagery that gives it a dreamlike quality. With the silent aspects it truly never reveals too much, leaving much to the whimsical imagination of the audience but allowing the beautiful narration to guide us. This is by far the best film I have seen at the festival and I would love to see it win the much coveted Golden Bear award.