Tabu. 2012. Directed by Miguel Gomes

Film

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Tabu. 2012. Portugal/France/Germany/Brazil. Directed by Miguel Gomes. Screenplay by Gomes, Mariana Ricardo. With Teresa Madruga, Laura Soveral, Ana Moreira, Henrique Espírito Santo, Carloto Cotta, Isabel Cardoso, Ivo Müller, Manuel Mesquita. DCP. In Portuguese; English subtitles. 118 min.

Miguel Gomes further deconstructs cinematic forms in what is, paradoxically, his most lyrical effort. Split between two segments (“Paradise” and “Paradise Lost”), Tabu is a remarkable journey through both Portugal’s colonial past in Africa and a present socioeconomic reality marked by bankruptcy and foreign financial intervention. Through the life of a middle-aged woman and an African housemaid, and the death of a mysterious and eccentric neighbor, Tabu (inspired by F. W. Murnau’s silent romanticism) tells the story of a forbidden love in Mozambique that jump-started António de Oliveira Salazar’s colonial war. Shot in beautiful black and white by Rui Poças, this haunting work is considered by many to be Gomes’s most poignant film.

This film accompanies The Ongoing Revolution of Portuguese Cinema.

Past events

Thu, Oct 24, 2024, 7:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 1

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1
Sun, Oct 20, 2024, 4:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2

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