Tabu is an award winning 2012 Portuguese drama film on DVD, directed by Miguel Gomes.
A love story told in two unique parts, TABU is, quite simply, a film unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Deftly moving between contemporary Portugal, colonial Africa and the landscape of dreams, director Miguel Gomes conjures an enthralling story of obsession, memory and dangerous forbidden romance.
Part one, “Paradise Lost”, follows the seemingly ordinary daily life of a devout Lisbon woman, Pilar, and her attempts to support and console her extravagant and bitter neighbour Aurora, who spends her day gambling at the local casino and whose grip on reality is becoming less firm.
When Aurora's health takes a turn, a stranger is summoned to her deathbed and it gradually transpires this man is Gian Luca, the love of her life from the distant past. This forms the foundation for the second chapter, “Paradise”, set 50 years prior at an African farm in the foothills of Mount Tabu
Subtitled.
Special Features
- David Stratton from ABC1's AT THE MOVIES interview with Miguel Gomes
- Miguel Gomes' short films “The Canticle of the Creature” and “Christmas Inventory”
Awards
- Won Portugal Golden Globe, Best Film
- Won Berlin International Film Festival: Alfred Bauer Award, and FIPRESCI Prize
- Won Ghent International Film Festival, Grand Prix Award for Best Film
- Won Las Palmas Film Festival, Audience Award
- Nominated London Critics Circle Film Awards, Foreign Language Film of the Year
- Nominated Sydney Film FestivalOfficial Competition Award
- Nominated Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, Best Foreign Language Film
Tabu Movie Reviews
“Shot in beautiful black and white with some stunning visuals, Gomes' narrative quest is a understated gem.” Empire
“Charming, witty, beautifully shot and inexplicably captivating.” The Playlist
“If you have the patience to watch this film develop and unfold, like some bizarre night-blooming orchid, what you'll see is not just the last movie released in 2012, but possibly the most original of them all.” Salon.com
“It's a gem: gentle, eccentric, possessed of a distinctive sort of innocence – and also charming and funny.” The Guardian UK
“Tabu manages to be both classical and modern, ironic and heartbreaking.” Village Voice
“The story is ornate but easy to follow. It's the dreamy look and sound of Tabu – half old, half modern – that give the film its haunting strangeness.” New York Post
“Few films are this smart about subtly couching their allegorical aspirations within more straightforward narratives; fewer still are able to do so with such energetically inventive virtuoso style.” NPR
“It takes a while to get to the meat of the movie, but it's well worth the wait.” Washington Post