The Goddess of 1967

THE GODDESS OF 1967 is a film by Clara Law and husband Eddie Fong. It's set in Australia and it's by a Hong Kong/Australian director famous for her less 'Aussie' films. It's about a Japanese businessman (Rikiya Kurokawa, look out for this name, a great performance by a Prada model(?!) in his first role) who finds a classic car (a Citroen DS 1967) on the internet and comes to Australia to buy it. Anyway, when he arrives he finds the owners dead and ends up on a journey in the car across the outback with a blind Australian girl (yeah, it's a road movie). It becomes quite dark and twisted after that and I better not say anymore as not to spoil it. It makes great use of flashbacks which are great stand alone stories, and interestingly the flashbacks are shot to look 'normal' whereas the the main story has a strange 'dreamy' look. The look of the film reminded me of innovative HK directors like Wong Kar-Wai and his cinematographer Chris Doyle. Clara uses a lot of visual effects and graphics that work well, (although sometimes look like vague attempts to be experimental) and obvious back projection behind the drivers in the car which I thought was great but alot of people might not like. Dion Beebe's cinematography was great, the negative was somehow bleached giving a strange look with unnatural glowing colour. Like Floating life, the colours are amazing. Sometimes it's a bit too Australian which might actually put Australian's off the film, at the same time be appealing to non-Australians. It's a bit depressing but you'll get over it. It's a journey into the dark-side contrasted by the beauty of the Citroen which leads the journey.

Oi! How can I say how I felt about this film using actual words. This is a description that requires a lot of hand gestures.

It moves in such a way that you are carried along with the action, not separated from the action by this big "movie". It has a fly on the wall feeling to it, and it all fits together. Each scene, well each shot really, fits perfectly jigsawed in with those surrounding it. Very polished and precise. It seems to just naturally happen, not forced. Even the frequent use of flashbacks came off as natural and easy.

Very beautiful to look at. Warm colors and textures. Very sweet, real romance.

Humanity peeled down to most raw and simple. I was pulled by the shirt-collar through each path of the story. I really couldn't have stopped watching it even if I had wanted to (which I didn't). Very controlled, purposeful tension.

Beautiful.

Not many people have seen this film. Those who have seen it, will either hate it or love it. I loved it.

The movie starts with a computer screen that says: I want to buy GOD.

The Prologue doesn't have any human voices. The world the director shows of Japan is obvious. A world of Japanese high-tech. Everywhere there are machines, nobody lives without it. Even as they communicate. As well as the running is been done on a machine.

Clara Law has a very interesting and personal view which shows us her own interesting personality that she is. Because of that movie I can't let go of that.

She succeeds in showing us her own vision of The Goddess of 1967 because she stays consequent by creating a contemporary and postmodern feeling. A feeling she got from her own environment. Born in Macau, studied English literature in Hong Kong. Afterwards Film in London and lives with her husband in Australia.

What Clara Law tries to explain in her movie is sort of autobiographic, it is obvious that she reflects this on the two protagonists. Both characters living in two completely different countries and cultures. Clara Law doesn't work this movie out in a shallow kind of way. She does it within a own creative way and lets the characters explore each other

One character JM appears to be having everything he wants. Financial that is. He is so wealthy he believes he can buy god. Therefore he wants to buy this is beautifully car called the CITROEN DS from 1967. The GODdess. For JM this means freedom. Free of all the big luxury, being unhooked of all the machines.

The other character is BG. A girl who has been blind for all her life. Because of a suddenly death of the dealer of the car, BG will lead JM the way to the real owner of the car. Or so she says.

Once they are on the road with the car, you can follow the mental way of both characters. On the road the flashbacks follow and the viewer learns the pain and history of the characters and why the are what they are.

Neither silent or moving. Neither perceivable or imperceptible Neither nothing or everything. A state of mystery, paradox, ambiguity That is what I tried to capture in this film. CLARA LAW

Thank you Clara Law.....

Directionless japanese internet thief goes to Australia to buy a Goddess (a Citroen 2CV) and meets a blind women. They travel through Australia together and flashbacks into the women's history reveal a terrifying yet simple story about her childhood, including sexual abuse and religious fanatism. While being displayed in beautiful pictures using very interesting camera technique, I experienced the movie as an overly long trip into the world of simply insane people. Too much suffering without one useful comment was too much for me. The absurd end spoiled all the sympathy I had for the movie while I watched it, leaving me with the question: "What the hell did Clara Law want to express/tell/explain with this movie?" I didn't enjoy searching for the answer at all.

Clare Law was a successful blockbuster director while she was in Hong Kong, who made films like The Reincarnation of Golden Lotus. Her artistic ambition has taken her to another level of filmmaking. The Goddess of 1967 is highly experimental in style. Unlike many experimental works, however, this film does not seem pointless. On the contrary, it has a very powerful story. The story is therapeutic; it deals with abuse, incest and obsession, with an ending of recognition and reconciliation (but not the kind of phony sentimental type that is typical of Hollywood drama). This film is a work of art. Its cinematography is beautiful; its writing is humorous, despite the fact that the story is heavy. I hope the DVD will be released soon.