TABU: A STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS (1931)

Of the four films F.W. Murnau completed after leaving Germany for Hollywood, three are masterpieces; one is lost.  This, the fourth, premiered shortly after Murnau died in a car crash.  Begun in collaboration with documentarian Robert J. Flaherty, hard to know just how much input Flaherty had.  A very slow worker, he left over ‘creative differences,’ but there’s nothing in the film to indicate a split personality, so let’s assign full authorship to Murnau.  A simple fable from Bora Bora in the South Seas, it opens in Paradise (see title card) as the island’s youth collect food from the sea and mates from gambols on natural water-slides.  (Real-life E-Ticket stuff.)  But when a modern schooner is spotted arriving, you know it means trouble in paradise.  Just not the trouble you’re expecting.  No white man corruption or domination of indigenous peoples, leave that to the guilt-ridden apologists of AVATAR or MICKEY 17.  A century back, Murnau allows these tribal societies to generate drama on their own terms.  Here with young lovers being separated by an ancient custom that chooses a Maid of Good Fortune, chaste & untouchable, TABU to the boy who loves her.  Rather than submit, the two break tradition and flee to a more developed island, in spite of no funds, the boy having carelessly signed away a fortune to Chinese merchants eager to trap the best pearl diver on the island.  To raise funds, the boy will dive for the gems in a spot so dangerous it’s marked TABU.  Technically silent, and wondrously shot by Floyd Crosby (Oscar®), it’s loaded with ceremony, ritual chant & dance for the new Maid of Good Fortune.  Presumably authentic, though the added soundtrack all South Seas musical clichés and Smetana’s The Moldau!*  Just where Murnau, recently dropped from FOX after refusing to add Talkie segments to CITY GIRL/’30 (https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2016/05/city-girl-1930.html) might have gone from here is anyone’s guess.  (NOTE:  Family Friendly label, but with a fair amount of 'National Geographic Nudity.') 

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  A recent edition (not heard here) replaces the 1931 soundtrack with a more authentic ethnic music track, though whether it better fits Murnau’s period sensibility is debatable.  Have a listen and let us know your thoughts in the Comments.  (NOTE: Comments automatically come up on I-Phones, but need to be clicked open on laptops.)