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Tabú
Tabu: A Story of the South Seas
F.W. Murnau (EE.UU. de América, 1931) [B/N, 90 min]



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[fuente: Cine Archivo] En la isla de Bora-Bora desembarca el brujo Hitu y escoge a Reri, una de las chicas más bonitas de la tribu, para entregarla como sacrificio a los dioses. Al caer la noche, Matahi, un joven enamorado de Reri, rescata a la chica y se fuga con ella. Los dos encuentran refugio en otra isla hasta que llega Hitu y les amenaza con la muerte de Matahi si ella no se entrega antes de tres días. Cuando Matahi va a recoger perlas en un trozo de mar considerado tabú para pagar el billete que los lleve a Papete, ella se entrega para salvar a su enamorado.

"Tabú" es un excepcional documental lírico sobre la vida de los indígenas en la Polinesia, aderezado por una trama romántica de ficción e interpretado en su mayor parte (salvo la joven protagonista, Anna Chevalier) por actores no profesionales. Durante el rodaje, se sucedieron los enfrentamientos entre Flaherty y Murnau, abandonando finalmente el primero el proyecto antes de su culminación; Murnau, por su parte, murió en un accidente de tráfico antes del estreno.

AMG SYNOPSIS: Tabu is a lyrical documentary of Polynesian life, given added audience appeal with a fictional plotline. The story concerns a young island girl (Anna Chevalier, who like everyone in the cast is a non-professional) who has been consecrated to the gods by her tribespeople. It is thus "tabu" for her to marry; still, she falls in love with a handsome young pearl fisherman (Matahi). The island's holy man takes the girl away in his schooner. Her lover swims after her, but eventually sinks disconsolately into the ocean. Shot completely on location, it was supposed to be a collaboration between German director F. W. Murnau and American documentary producer Robert Flaherty. Flaherty withdrew from the project when he realized the film was taking a romanticized approach. Murnau never lived to see the final product; he was killed in a car accident just before the film's opening. Begun as a silent film in 1929, Tabu was released in that form in 1931, despite the fact that talking pictures already had been established for nearly three years. -- Hal Erickson

AMG REVIEW: Tabu very nearly failed because of the clash in styles between its co-directors F. W. Murnau and Robert Flaherty, but it ultimately succeeded because cinematographer Floyd Crosby's work dominated the film. Murnau's greatest films -- Nosferatu (1922), Der Letzte Mann (1924), and Sunrise (1927) -- were noted for their superb visual design, particularly their highly stylized expressionistic sets. In Tabu, he faced the challenge of a film with no artificial sets, just the natural surroundings and occasional buildings of Polynesian life. Documentarian Flaherty was the master of exotic locations, experienced in filming in harsh, diverse weather conditions. As might have been predicted, Flaherty and Murnau had conflicting visions of what Tabu should be, resulting in Flaherty's leaving the project well before completion. What survives is arguably more Crosby's than Murnau's or Flaherty's. Unlike many cinematographers, Crosby was adept at shooting exterior sequences that involved open water. The result was a film good enough to release silent some five years after the advent of movie sound. Crosby won an Oscar for his work, and the distinction of causing the Academy to alter its rules, making travelogue films like Tabu ineligible for future cinematography Oscars. (The rule was later changed again, in effect rescinding the prohibition). -- Richard Gilliam

Otras referencias
- "Tabú", por Anna Petrus. Miradas de Cine, nº 90 (septiembre 2009).
- "El «testamente» de Murnau", por Lluís Roy Gallart. Cine Archivo.
- Tabu (F.W.Murnau - Robert J. Flaherty, 1931). Con el Cine en los talones.
- "Murnau y sus cecretos", por Michel Ciment. Revista Positif, nº 523 (Sept. 2004).
Traducción de Esmeralda Barriendos. Reproducida en Zinema.

Guión: F.W. Murnau, Robert J. Flaherty.
Música: Hugo Riesenfeld.
Fotografía: Floyd Crosby, Robert J. Flaherty (no acreditado) (B&W).
Productora: Paramount Pictures, Murnau-Flaherty Productions.

• Matahi.
• Anne Chevalier.
• Bill Bambridge.
• Hitu, Ah Fong.

1930: Oscar: Mejor fotografía
1931: National Board of Review (NBR): 10 mejores films

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Subtítulos: castellano (subdivx) (sincronizados por jinetefantasma, que comenta "podrían ajustarse algo más, pero creo que así sirven de sobra) / francés (opensubtitles)

Docudramas
- Finis Terrae (1929)
- India: Matri Bhumi (1959)
- Primer plano (1990)
- Redes (1936)
- Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)

[Nota: Las películas que forman esta serie son docudramas, dejo por tanto en manos de los mods la decisión de publicarlos en el foro de documentales o moverlos a ficción.]