Floyd Crosby's superb cinematography won him a richly deserved Oscar for F.W. Murnau's "Tabu". The film itself is a very simple, perhaps even simplistic. love story of the kind we have become accustomed to hearing since love stories first were told; boy loves girl, girl loves boy but they can't be together because, in this case, the girl is decreed to be a sacred virgin by the island chief.
The subtitle of the film is 'A Story of the South Seas' and Murnau, together with Robert Flaherty, made the film on the island of Bora Bora. There are very few inter-titles so the film is, for the most part, a truly visual experience. The cast is made up entirely of non-professionals; the leads are native islanders and if often feels like a documentary rather than a work of fiction. Of course, it also feels as primitive as the lifestyle it portrays; sophistication is the one thing it lacks but perhaps that is not such a bad thing. Fundamentally this is a tale of innocence and of paradise lost and it has stood the test of time.
The subtitle of the film is 'A Story of the South Seas' and Murnau, together with Robert Flaherty, made the film on the island of Bora Bora. There are very few inter-titles so the film is, for the most part, a truly visual experience. The cast is made up entirely of non-professionals; the leads are native islanders and if often feels like a documentary rather than a work of fiction. Of course, it also feels as primitive as the lifestyle it portrays; sophistication is the one thing it lacks but perhaps that is not such a bad thing. Fundamentally this is a tale of innocence and of paradise lost and it has stood the test of time.