Love and colonialism

Tabu

★★★ 1/2 (out of four) Starring Teresa Madruga, Laura Soveral and Ana Moreira. Directed by Miguel Gomes. In Portuguese with English subtitles. 110 mins. Opens Sept. 21 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. 18A

Is Tabu about the relationship of a woman with her housekeeper, or is it about the legacy of Portuguese colonialism and the emotional burden of an oppressive past?

At the end of Portuguese director Miguel Gomes’s black-and-white melodrama, it doesn’t really matter, because the reward is a stunning photographic narrative — a love story told as sweeping parable. But to get there takes an investment by the viewer.

Tabu is an audaciously conceived two-part film shot in 35mm black and white for the first act in modern Lisbon, and grainier 16mm for the scenes of colonial Africa.

In the first act, we are immersed in the world of the pious and kind Pilar (Teresa Madruga) and her Lisbon neighbour Aurora (Laura Soveral) who suffers from dementia. Aurora also has a complicated relationship with her black housekeeper Santa (Isabel Cardoso) who has become her keeper.

The second act flashes back to Aurora’s life in colonial Africa. The tempo is quicker, even though Gomes has made it essentially a silent film. But not completely silent: There is some narration and sound — pebbles plopped in a pond, leaves being crushed, which give the scenes an immersive texturing.

Shot with an extinct technology, Tabu is about extinguished lives living in a vanished society. It’s a challenging vision, but the director has pulled it off — with images and sound staying with you long after the cinema goes black.