Miguel Gomes’ latest picture, Tabu, is bound to make ‘Film of the Year’ lists in five months time. Whilst the first half is a bit too quirky for its own good and suffers from “What’s this all about again?” issues, the second half (and this really is a film of two halves) is absolutely magical. Let’s go the whole hyperbolic hog and say “It’s pure cinema … spellbinding”. Because it is.

The wonderful New Wave Films are releasing Gomes’ new work on 7th September and have recently uploaded a beautiful HD quality trailer onto Youtube. Just look at the quality will ya! Tabu’s second half, delivered without dialogue, and incorporating an epistolary-type voiceover, is sublime stuff. We’ll have our full review closer to release.

After Our Beloved Month of August, Miguel Gomes returns with Tabu, an engaging, provocative and poetic film set both in Portugal and in an un-named African location.

Bearing the same title as F. W. Murnau’s classic Tabu (1931), shot in black and white and taking place at least partly in a distant land, Gomes’ third feature film is divided in two distinctive yet complementary storylines. Whilst the first part, shot in 35mm and in the present time, portrays a society wallowing in nostalgia, the second part, shot in 16mm, goes back in time and plays with history, sound, the concept of linear narration, as well as the ideas of melodrama, slapstick, passion and tragedy. Both parts feature Aurora at two different stages of her life: an older Aurora regrets a past long gone while a younger Aurora dreams of a more passionate life. A virtuoso film, Tabu also offers a reflection on Europe’s colonial past.

UK Release Date: 7th September

Source: Youtube