Tabu: A Story of the South Seas

1931 1h 26m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 192

RomanceDramaAdventure

Synopsis

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On the South Pacific island of Bora Bora, a young couple's love is threatened when the tribal chief declares the girl a sacred virgin.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Matahi
The Boy
Anne Chevalier
The Girl (as Reri)
Bill Bambridge
The Policeman (as Jean)
Hitu
The Old Warrior
Jules
The Captain (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: F. W. Murnau
Writers: F. W. Murnau, Robert Flaherty, Edgar G. Ulmer
Languages: No Language
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

95 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by F. W. Murnau, shot by Floyd Crosby. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Hugo Riesenfeld. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Arthur A. Brooks shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Matahi and Anne Chevalier and Bill Bambridge carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0022458 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

F. W. Murnau directs. Floyd Crosby behind the camera. Hugo Riesenfeld scores. Arthur A. Brooks cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in No Language.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
295 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by F. W. Murnau, shot by Floyd Crosby. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Hugo Riesenfeld. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Arthur A. Brooks shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Matahi and Anne Chevalier and Bill Bambridge carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0022458 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 15 themes, including "exotic island", "love of one's life", "escape", "sacrifice".

The technical file

Cinematography: Floyd Crosby
Original score: Hugo Riesenfeld
Editing: Arthur A. Brooks
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Academy Award for Best Cinematography

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

F. W. Murnau

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-02-16
★ 7/10
Though beautifully shot, this is - in fact - rather a horrible film! Set on the peaceful and beautiful island of Bora Bora, we meet a young girl "Reri" (Anne Chavalier) who is selected by the chief to be the next sacred virgin. This is an honour, a position that will earn her respect and comfort but it will deny her that which she craves the most - her true love (Matahi). Desperate, the two decide to abscond and he finds himself eking a living in a more venal, European, community where his angry Gods lack any power but where his lack of familiarity with the very concept of money soon sees him, quite literally, swimming in a sea of debt. Meantime, the chief back home (Hitu) has declared that there needs to be a search for them that involves the police (Bill Bambridge). When the officer tracks them down and they face arrest, the young man resorts to even more dangerous diving - amidst sharks - to obtain the pearls he needs to pay off his creditors so they can skedaddle again. Of course, the best laid plans and all that, and when he returns to their shack, he finds that she has decided to sacrifice her happiness and return to their home... Can they reunite? This film cleverly marries a mixture of ritualism and emotion, and illustrates really quite clearly just how incompatible they can be. A young couple doing no harm to anyone, in a nation that would ordinarily embrace their affection, find themselves forced by superstition to flee, to compromise and to live in fear. The whole film has a futility to it that's writ large and is actually quite exasperating to watch. Leave them be, for heaven's sake! Find another virgin? I'm not sure if F.W. Murnau is having a go at religiosity, or at the fallibility of love itself - and that ambiguity makes this all the more interesting to watch. The fact that even they knew their relationship was likely to end in disappointing failure still didn't deter them from earning the enmity of their leaders and the authorities - yet instinct and their visceral need for each other overrode those palpably presented dangers. That the setting is so idealistic and benign seems to rub salt into their wounds and as love stories go, this is probably the one that most tugged on my heart-strings. It does look super on a big screen if you can, and the subject does give a rich bed for the accompanist to play both rousingly and tenderly.

Production companies