Another charmingly eccentric exercise in meta-fiction from Portugal’s offbeat new directing star Miguel Gomes, Tabu chooses to explore its characters without following narrative rules, or rather, by reshuffling hackneyed tropes from film and novels to turn them into strange, modern entertainment. Gomes’s freedom to play with familiar bits and pieces will once again earn the film critic-turned-director (Our Beloved Month of August) wide critical praise, which could push this oddity into more adventurous art house circles not afraid of its black-and-white cinematography and old-fashioned square format. Hollywood Reporter
Production Companies
- Gullane Filmes
- Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) (in association with)
- Shellac Sud
- Komplizen Film (co-production)
- O Som e a Fúria
- ZDF/Arte (in association with)
Tabu calls to mind the oft-repeated comparison between film directors and magicians. Indeed, how else but with magic could Portuguese director Miguel Gomes have created such a joyful, enthralling film from this wild mix of historical adventure, deadpan humor, romance, crocodiles, ghosts and silent films. Berlin 2012 Review
