Film Review
By 1929, with three major Hollywood productions under his belt, F. W. Murnau was
pretty well disillusioned with the American film industry. On
his two previous films -
4 Devils
(1928) and
City Girl (1930) - he had
fallen out with the studio executives and lost artistic control. The
opportunities for making the kind of
film he wanted to make had simply failed to materialise.
Tabu arose out of this frustration
to break out of the constraints of Hollywood, but it was also the
result of an unlikely alliance with the great documentary filmmaker
Robert J. Flaherty. The only thing that Murnau and Flaherty had
in common was a desire to make a film in Tahiti, but this was enough
for them to commit themselves to an ambitious and fraught production
that almost bankrupted both of them.
Murnau and Flaherty had initially agreed to direct the film together. They
collaborated on the screenplay, but when it came to shooting the film
the two men could not agree on anything, and Flaherty was relegated to secondary duties,
such as developing the film. This was partly because they
couldn't stand the sight of each other, but it was also the result of a
lack of manpower. When the company that had agreed to finance the
film failed to send the cheques, Murnau had no option but to fund most
of the film himself, so he dispensed with most of the production crew
(replacing them with natives, whom he trained) to cut the costs.
Although Murnau was able to complete the film and managed to persuade
Paramount to distribute it, it proved not to be a commercial
success. But this was not the biggest blow to afflict the German
filmmaker. A week before the film's premiere (on 18th March 1931), Murnau died in hospital from
injuries sustained in an automobile accident - leading some
to speculate that he had been the victim of a Polynesian curse.
Tabu is significant in that it is
both Murnau's last film and also one of the last films of the silent
era.
Tabu is in many ways Murnau's
most interesting film, and possibly his greatest. It fits with
what has gone before, both in its subject matter (likeable characters
struggling against insuperable forces) and in its startling visual
impact. Of Murnau's previous films, the one it most resembles is
Sunrise
(1927), but whereas that film is clearly a product of the silent era
(the studio constraints are very visible, in spite of the film's
exceptional artistic quality),
Tabu has
a timeless feel to it and transcends the era in which it was made.
This is partly because it is concerned with universal themes, but also
because it was shot entirely in a natural environment (with a
non-professional cast), something which gives the film the kind of reality
that was exceptionally rare at the time it was
made. (Tellingly, this realism was too much for the Hollwood censors,
who insisted that several cuts be made for the American release.)
The first half of the film practically serves as a documentary,
recording a way of life and a culture that have probably long since
disappeared. Even when the melodrama starts to take over, the
film still retains its naturalistic edge, and the sheer beauty of the
cinematography (which incidentally won the film an Oscar) becomes so
intoxicating that you scarcely notice the plot contrivances.
Tabu is so different from
Murnau's previous American films, and these in turn marked such a
dramatic shift from his German era output, that it is hard to know just
where Murnau's cinema would have taken him had he lived beyond his 42nd
birthday. Sound would probably have made very little difference,
since Murnau had used inter-titles sparingly on his silent films and
had become a master at constructing a narrative and engaging his
audience's emotions through the image alone. Murnau would
probably have gone on to make increasingly personal films that allowed him
to extend the boundaries of the cinematographic art - always supposing he
could find someone to back him. It is hard to imagine him staying
in Hollywood as a hired hand churning out formulaic pap for the studio
moguls. What is most striking about
Tabu is how unsettlingly modern it
feels. The digitally re-mastered print that is currently
available is almost pristine in its quality and makes it difficult to
date the film. Whereas all of Murnau's previous films clearly
belong to the silent era,
Tabu
stands apart as something quite different, and pretty well unique.
Maybe, in time, it will come to be judged as one of the greatest of all
silent films. It is certainly the most enchanting and
most beautifully shot of Murnau's films - a more than adequate
parting shot from one of the undisputed masters of cinema.
© James Travers 2011
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Next F.W. Murnau film:
The Haunted Castle (1921)
Film Synopsis
The island of Bora Bora is a South Pacific paradise, where the local
population live an idyllic and peaceful existence in a landscape of
untainted beauty. One day, the tribal elders assemble to select a
young woman who must turn her back on earthly interests and devote
herself to their gods. Reri is chosen because, of all the women
on the island, she is the most beautiful. But Reri is in love
with, and loved by, a young man named Matahi. According to tribal
custom, any man who dares to look on the maid of the gods with amorous
intent must die. Unable to face being separated from his beloved,
Matahi abducts Reri and the two flee to a French colony where Matahi
finds work as a pearl fisher. Their newfound happiness proves to
be short lived...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.