Taboo (1931)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | taboo |
| Original title | Taboo: A Story of the South Seas |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1931 |
| length | 81 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau |
| script | Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, Robert J. Flaherty , Edgar G. Ulmer |
| production | Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, Robert J. Flaherty |
| music |
Hugo Riesenfeld , William Franke Harling , Milan Roder |
| camera |
Floyd Crosby , Robert J. Flaherty |
| cut | Arthur A. Brooks |
| occupation | |
| |
Tabu is an adventure film by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau , staged in 1930/1931 as a silent film . The film premiered on March 18, 1931 in New York a week after Murnau's death . In Germany the film was released on August 5, 1931.
action
Matahi is a pearl diver on the South Pacific island of Bora Bora . He meets the beautiful Reri and falls in love with her. A short time later, the old warrior Hitu arrives on the island, who, as an envoy from the chief of Fanuma, brings a message to the chief of Bora-Bora. It is part of the islander's religion to appoint a woman as a divine virgin. The current maiden has died and the chief of Fanuma, chief chief of all the islands, has chosen Reri as her successor. It is now subject to a taboo by Hitu , with which it is consecrated to the gods. Every man who desires her is death. Hitu has been tasked with this and is responsible with his own life to bring Reri to Fanuma.
Matahi is taken aback by the news. He sneaks onto Hitu's ship, kidnaps Reri and escapes with her from the island in a small canoe. Completely exhausted by wind and weather and half starved and dying of thirst, they finally reach a French colonial island, where Matahi quickly proves himself to be a successful pearl diver. But since he doesn't know the money concept, he gets into debt.
The French police on the island received a message from the government that unrest in the local population should be avoided at all costs and that a reward of 500 francs was therefore offered for the capture and extradition of the refugees to Hitu. Matahi can bribe the officer with a pearl, but Hitu has since found the two. Reri receives a letter: She should be back in Bora Bora in three days, otherwise Matahi will die. The couple are planning their escape and want to book a ship passage with the schooner Hinano , which is supposed to arrive in two days.
To settle his debts and pay the passage, Matahi dares a dive in a shark-infested lagoon, where the local police officer has anchored a prohibition sign with the word "taboo". During his absence, Reri writes a farewell letter to Matahi and follows Hitu in his canoe. Matahi returns from his successful dive a little later and finds Reri's message. He jumps into the water and swims after the canoe. When he has reached it, he holds on to a rope, which Hitu then cuts. Matahi continues to pursue the boat while swimming, but gradually his strength runs out of him and he drowns.
Reviews
"An extraordinary poetic and atmospheric mixture of feature film and ethnographic study, sensitive and tactful."
"Fascinating South Seas ballad, a piece of film history"
Awards
- In 1931 the film won an Oscar in the Best Camera category.
- In 1994 the film was entered into the National Film Registry of the National Film Preservation Board .
background
Distributed by Paramount Pictures , the film had an estimated budget of $ 150,000. The film was shot on Bora Bora and Tahiti .
Directors Murnau and Flaherty had differences over the weighting of the film. Murnau, who put more emphasis on the plot than the documentary filmmaker Flaherty, was one of the main financiers of the film and was able to finish the film on his own.
On March 11, 1931, the evening the film was completed, Murnau was killed in a car accident in Santa Barbara .
Lotus Long , a famous Hollywood actress at the time, was to take on the lead role. After the production company Colorart went bankrupt after the stock market crash in 1929, Murnau took over the financing itself and filled the roles of islanders with Polynesians. Murnau gave his directing instructions in French, Bill Bambridge acted as translator for the Polynesians. The internationality of the film crew is striking. Murnau was a native German from Bielefeld , co-author Edgar G. Ulmer , who also worked as a production manager, came from Olomouc in what is now the Czech Republic , composer Hugo Riesenfeld from Vienna , Austria , his colleague W. Franke Harling, who was to win an Oscar in 1940 , from London , United Kingdom , Milan Roder was a Croatian from Osijek .
Anne Chevalier, who appears in the credits with her real name Reri in the credits, played in John Ford's adventure film in 1937 ... then the hurricane came in a minor supporting role, an island woman by the name of Reri. Bill Bambridge, who played the policeman, was also spotted as King Hirihiti in Mutiny on the Bounty alongside Clark Gable and Charles Laughton in 1935 . Most of the actors in Tabu , however, were in front of the camera for the first and last time with this film.
Web links
- Taboo in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Taboo at the Murnau Foundation
- FW Murnaus TABU - Edition of the outtakes . In: deutsche-kinemathek.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Taboo. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 1, 2017 .
- ↑ Taboo. In: Cinema.de. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016 ; accessed on April 22, 2019 . Proof of the quote. Tabu - A story from the South Seas. In: Cinema.de. Retrieved April 22, 2019 . Current version of the page that does not contain the quote.
- ^ Tabu (1931) Company Credits. In: Internet Movie Database . Accessed April 22, 2019 .
- ^ Tabu (1931) Notes. Turner Classic Movies , accessed April 22, 2019 .