The character of Santa, the housekeeper, serves as a quiet bridge between these worlds. In the present, she is an enigmatic figure, practicing voodoo rituals and keeping an alligator as a pet—elements that Aurora dismisses as superstition. Yet, in the past, Santa is present as a young girl, a silent witness to the colonial decadence. She represents the indigenous perspective that the European characters often overlook, grounding the film’s ethereal melodrama in a harsher reality.
Tabú 1 centers on Laura, a young woman trapped in a stale, conventional marriage. Her life takes a sharp turn when she meets a mysterious and seductive photographer, David. Through him, she is introduced to a hidden world of secret desires, voyeurism, and sexual experimentation. What begins as a journey of self-discovery soon spirals into obsession, guilt, and emotional chaos. pelicula tabu 1
The contrast between the two parts is profound. The first half is a slow, observational drama about the reality of the present. The second half is a heightened, romanticized dreamscape of the past. By stripping away the dialogue in the African sequences, Gomes forces the viewer to focus on the visual language of longing—a look, a touch, or the sprawling landscapes that seem to hum with hidden secrets. The character of Santa, the housekeeper, serves as