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.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.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.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 3 wins total
- The Girl
- (as Reri)
- The Policeman
- (as Jean)
- The Businessman
- (uncredited)
- The Captain
- (uncredited)
- Boys Friend
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- F.W. Murnau
- Robert J. Flaherty
- Edgar G. Ulmer(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaProducer/director/co-writer F.W. Murnau died in a car accident a few days after starting work on the music for this film. It had its New York premiere a week later.
- Quotes
The Girl: [writing a goodbye letter] I must go. Hitu is here and waits for me. You will die if I do not obey. I will go so that you may live. The tabu is upon us. I have been so happy with you far more than I deserved. The love you have given me, I will keep to the last beat of my heart. Across the great waters, I will come to you in your dreams when the moon spreads its path on the sea. Farewell.
- ConnectionsEdited into Treibjagd in der Südsee (1940)
Sadly, this was to be F. W. Murnau's last film. Despite a short life, he made many great films (including this one)... and then came a car accident that left us without another three or four decades of genius.
On the bright side, cinematographer Floyd Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on this film. Crosby went on to work for a great many years, bringing out the best in such directors as Roger Corman. In "Tabu", he uses the camera to tell a story without words -- body language and eye movement tell us almost everything we need to follow the plot.
The film was not a box office success upon release, grossing just $472,000 worldwide, which failed to recoup Murnau and Paramount's investment. This seems odd today, when it is considered a classic, but there is no secret that critically successful films and commercially successful films are not always the same thing.
The Image DVD features commentary by film historian Janet Bergstrom, which is quite excellent. Other editions feature other commentary, but I have not heard it and cannot compare.
- gavin6942
- Apr 29, 2014
- How long is Tabu: A Story of the South Seas?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $150,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 26 minutes
- Sound mix