Tabu (2012/I) is a Portuguese movie co-written and directed by Miguel Gomes.
The film begins in modern-day Portugal, where an old woman named Aurora (Laura Soveral) is leading a quiet and sheltered life. We know there's some mystery about her earlier life, but we don't know what it is. Aurora becomes ill, and when she realizes that she won't recover, she shares a man's name with a neighbor, and asks the neighbor to find this man.
The film then shifts to Africa about fifty years earlier, at a time when Aurora was a young woman. (The young Aurora is portrayed by the lovely Portuguese actor Ana Moreira.) Portugal is still the colonial power, but the anti-colonialist revolutions are beginning.
What happens during this period is full of wild romance, with Aurora at its center. The man named by the dying Aurora is the link that brings the two plots together.
Although this movie was completed in 2012, it has the look of earlier film. This is partly because it's shot in black and white, and partly because the director has chosen to remind us that great movies have been with us for many, many years.
We saw Tabu on DVD, where it worked well. It's not the perfect film for everyone, but it's a good choice if you want something foreign and different.
The film begins in modern-day Portugal, where an old woman named Aurora (Laura Soveral) is leading a quiet and sheltered life. We know there's some mystery about her earlier life, but we don't know what it is. Aurora becomes ill, and when she realizes that she won't recover, she shares a man's name with a neighbor, and asks the neighbor to find this man.
The film then shifts to Africa about fifty years earlier, at a time when Aurora was a young woman. (The young Aurora is portrayed by the lovely Portuguese actor Ana Moreira.) Portugal is still the colonial power, but the anti-colonialist revolutions are beginning.
What happens during this period is full of wild romance, with Aurora at its center. The man named by the dying Aurora is the link that brings the two plots together.
Although this movie was completed in 2012, it has the look of earlier film. This is partly because it's shot in black and white, and partly because the director has chosen to remind us that great movies have been with us for many, many years.
We saw Tabu on DVD, where it worked well. It's not the perfect film for everyone, but it's a good choice if you want something foreign and different.