Tabu

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Tabu

2012

1h 58m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

61 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Two elderly women, Pilar (Teresa Madruga) and Santa (Isabel Muñoz Cardoso), try to find the man that their recently deceased friend, Aurora (Laura Soveral), had a passionate affair with in her youth.

Critics Consensus

Mysterious and visually striking, Tabu rewards audiences' patience with a swooning romance shot with experimental flair.

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Michael O'Sullivan

Washington Post

Apr 5, 2013

3/4

It takes a while to get to the meat of the movie, but it's well worth the wait.

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Ty Burr

Boston Globe

Feb 14, 2013

2.5/4

It almost seems a parody of willfully obscure art-house fare. Yet it has an undertow that sucks you in as often as it strands you back on shore.

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John Hartl

Seattle Times

Feb 7, 2013

3/4

A kind of jigsaw puzzle, spiced up with references to "White Mischief," "Out of Africa" and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," that will frustrate some audiences and fascinate others.

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Mar 16, 2024

5/10

Gomes gives it a sobriety that places in the frame sociopolitical readings about the roots of colonial oppression, but there is not much emotional depth and the superfluous characters are barely outlined. [Full review in Spanish]

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Mar 2, 2024

This black-and-white tone poem is no political statement on colonialism but a hushed tragedy of young, reckless love in an isolated world and rugged landscape...

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Justine Smith

Vague Visages

Nov 21, 2023

The strength of Tabu lies in how powerfully sex is captured, offering aural and visual textures that inspire sensorial memories.

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Mar 5, 2020

Visually beautiful, but a narrative that is mostly impenetrable and renders the film unengaging

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Oct 27, 2018

It may hit some marks technically but on the whole Tabu is a pretentious bore that attempts and, evidently, succeeds at convincing the audience that it is something more.

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Apr 24, 2016

A simple story which unravels slowly. The presentation and the stylish is what makes the movie great. The narration, the monochrome cinematography, the silent movie sequences, just keep adding depth to the movie. Does leave you with a smile in the end.

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Jan 1, 2016

Pure poetry! Loved every frame!

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Apr 26, 2015

strange film hard to classify

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Apr 11, 2015

A quiet masterpiece!

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Miguel Gomes

Director

Teresa Madruga

Pilar

Laura Soveral

Old Aurora

Ana Moreira

Young Aurora

Henrique Espírito Santo

Old Ventura

Carloto Cotta

Young Ventura

Leap Year

89%

56%

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70%

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100%

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Synopsis

Two elderly women, Pilar (Teresa Madruga) and Santa (Isabel Muñoz Cardoso), try to find the man that their recently deceased friend, Aurora (Laura Soveral), had a passionate affair with in her youth.

Director: Miguel Gomes
Producer: Maren Ade, Sandro Aguilar, Caio Gullane, Fabiano Gullane, Janine Jackowski, Luís Urbano, Jonas Dornbach, Thomas Ordonneau
Screenwriter: Miguel Gomes, Mariana Ricardo
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Brazilian Portuguese
Release Date (DVD): Oct 29, 2013
Runtime: 1h 58m

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