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TABU (2012)Movie Reviews
Portuguese language drama about the life of an elderly woman and her past as the wife of a wealthy farmer involved in a love affair with her husband's best friend. Cast:Teresa Madruga, Laura Soveral, Ana Moreira, Henrique Espírito Santo, Carloto Cotta, Isabel Muñoz Cardoso, Ivo Müller, Manuel MesquitaDirector:Miguel GomesRelease Date:December 26, 2012DVD Release: TBD From:Adopt FilmsLength:1 hr 58 min
Tabu (2012) played in key cities to very good reviews. • Ann Lewinson wrote in the Boston Phoenix, " 'People's lives are not like dreams,' says the elderly Aurora. But movies are, when they are as haunting as this one." • And John Hartl wrote in the Seattle Times, "...an original: a kind of jigsaw puzzle that will frustrate some audiences and fascinate others." More Reviews Below...
Tabu (2012) has not been reviewed by Broad National Press
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (8 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...odd and sometimes entrancing... its artfulness seems like an alibi, an excuse for keeping the ugliness of history out of the picture."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 695 words, 12/26/12
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: EXCELLENT(cg) "...defiantly unclassifiable... In its decidedly postmodern way, this is partially designed to resemble a silent film.... while the style is enchanting, the substance is, too."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 172 words, 12/28/12
Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: OUTSTANDING(cg) "The story is ornate but easy to follow. It's the dreamy look and sound of 'Tabu' -- half old, half modern -- that give the film its haunting strangeness."(See all of Farran Smith Nehme's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 253 words, 12/28/12
Tony Wong, Toronto Star: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a stunning photographic narrative -- a love story told as sweeping parable. But to get there takes an investment by the viewer."(See all of Tony Wong's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 466 words, 09/21/12
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: OUTSTANDING "...truly unique... wonderful... a work of sophisticated primitivism, which finds aching truth in the phrase 'The past is another country.' "(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 937 words, 12/26/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Miguel Gomes shows lots of ambition with this bifurcated black-and-white drama... The problem is that the second half doesn't really illuminate the first."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 134 words, 09/20/12
KEY CITIES (5 Reviews)
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...unexpected.... It takes a while to get to the meat of the movie, but it's well worth the wait.... it is mighty weird. But it's also surprisingly mesmerizing."(See all of Michael O'Sullivan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 607 words, 04/05/13
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The film's sound design, playful storytelling, and swinging Portuguese covers of Phil Spector chart-busters don't quite compensate for the melodramatic plot..."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 114 words, 01/11/13
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "It's opaque, maddening, often pretentious, yet the pretensions may be on purpose.... it has an undertow that sucks you in as often as it strands you back on shore."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 544 words, 02/15/13
John Hartl, Seattle Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...three movies in one... it's an original: a kind of jigsaw puzzle that will frustrate some audiences and fascinate others."(See all of John Hartl's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 270 words, 02/08/13
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: EXCELLENT(cg) "The black-and-white cinematography and silent-film feel are haunting... Aurora's story encapsulates a broader, bittersweet truth about the perils of tinted memory."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 140 words, 02/08/13
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (6 Reviews)
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: OUTSTANDING "...truly unique... wonderful... a work of sophisticated primitivism, which finds aching truth in the phrase 'The past is another country.' "(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 937 words, 12/26/12
Anne Lewinson, Boston Phoenix: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...the second half is a cinephile's payoff. 'People's lives are not like dreams,' says the elderly Aurora. But movies are, when they are as haunting as this one."(See all of Anne Lewinson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 228 words, 02/14/13
Scott Tobias, AV Club: EXCELLENT(cg) "...an eccentric, formally challenging experiment... a peculiar, lopsided piece of structural gamesmanship, but there's nothing out there entirely like it."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 433 words, 12/27/12
John Semley, Slant: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...playful... its surrealism -- like its romance, its comedy, its historicism, its everything -- is retained with a light touch."(See all of John Semley's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 826 words, 09/17/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Miguel Gomes shows lots of ambition with this bifurcated black-and-white drama... The problem is that the second half doesn't really illuminate the first."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 134 words, 09/20/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (4 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...odd and sometimes entrancing... its artfulness seems like an alibi, an excuse for keeping the ugliness of history out of the picture."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 695 words, 12/26/12
Ian Buckwalter, NPR: OUTSTANDING "Few films are this smart about subtly couching their allegorical aspirations... fewer still are able to do so with such energetically inventive virtuoso style."(See all of Ian Buckwalter's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 636 words, 12/27/12
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: OUTSTANDING "...peculiar and hypnotic... like some bizarre night-blooming orchid... not just the last movie released in 2012, but possibly the most original of them all."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,007 words, 12/28/12
Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...charmingly eccentric... chooses to explore its characters without following narrative rules... And yet, fun as it generally is, there is something that doesn't quite click..."(See all of Deborah Young's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 689 words, 02/14/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...odd and sometimes entrancing... its artfulness seems like an alibi, an excuse for keeping the ugliness of history out of the picture."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 695 words, 12/26/12
19.1 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Tabu (2012)'s reviews are separated by an average 19.1 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Tabu (2012) (20 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Tabu (2012)'s reviews cover 20.9% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 10,421 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 521 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 6 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Tabu (2012)'s reviews on average broke 6 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Tabu (2012)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Tabu (2012) (20 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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