Tabu: A Story of the South Seas

Common card · No. 399751

Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (pronounced [ˈtapu]) is a 1931 American synchronized sound film directed by F. W. Murnau. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the Western Electric Sound System sound-on-film process. A docufiction, it is split into two chapters: The first, called "Paradise", depicts the lives of two lovers on a South Seas island until they are forced to escape the island when the girl is chosen as a holy maid to the gods. The second chapter, "Paradise Lost", depicts the couple's life on a colonised island and how they adapt to and are exploited by Western civilisation. The title comes from the Polynesian concept of tapu (spelled tabu in Tongan before 1943), from which is derived the English word "taboo". The story was written by Robert J. Flaherty and Murnau; with the exception of the opening scene, the film was directed solely by Murnau. This was his last film; he died in a hospital after an automobile...

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