"Tabu" Brings the Drama

Portuguese drama “Tabu” revives the tumult of classic cinema and injects it with a dose of eccentric energy. This is a world of epic scale and romance but also deadly big game huntresses, rock bands started by failed priests, dreams filled with biting monkeys, and pet crocodiles who just won’t stay put. “Tabu” is shot gorgeously in black and white and plays over an odd but intriguing soundscape of African wilderness and rock music, often devoid of audible voices. The film is divided into two chapters, a present-day world of lonesome people and the African landscape of memory and passion where an old man relives the unfulfilled romance of his youth. “Tabu” may not make complete structural or thematic sense, but it’s so cinematically rich, stylish, and quirky that we don’t really care.

Starring Teresa Madruga, Laura Soveral, Ana Moreira Directed by Miguel Gomez 4/5 Stars

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