Sightlines · reception
How Tabu: A Story of the South Seas was received
1931 · F. W. Murnau · Tabu: A Story of the South Seas on Sightlines
The arc
Barely registered on release — a silent film arriving after talkies had taken over, overshadowed by Murnau's death days before the premiere — but decades of restorations and critical devotion have made it a consensus masterpiece of the late silent era.
What’s debated
Film fans still argue over authorship — how much is Murnau, how much the departed Robert Flaherty — and whether its rapturous vision of Polynesia is transcendent or an inescapably colonial Western fantasy.
Its footprint
Its afterlife runs through cinephile homage more than pop culture — most visibly Miguel Gomes's acclaimed 2012 film Tabu, which borrows the title and its two-part structure ('Paradise' / 'Paradise Lost') as an open tribute.
Where it stands
A 'you must see this' entry in the silent canon — the haunted final film of a great director, treasured by Murnau completists and Letterboxd silent-cinema devotees alike.
Did you know? Murnau died in a car crash a week before the film premiered — and its cinematographer, Floyd Crosby (father of musician David Crosby), won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, remarkable for an independent silent film released in the sound era.