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.

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.

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.

I went into the Cinema expecting... I don't know what. I knew it was a road trip picture with a Japanese man and Australian woman... they looked pretty enough on the poster. What I didn't expect was two very real people, scared, vulnerable and eccentric characters on a journey across Australia that becomes luminous and intoxicating.

The visual style of the film /cinematography, while gorgeous, was at first distracting... what some people would consider artsy. But as the story unfolds, the visual look of the film matches with the messy, hypnotic storyline and its characters.

A beautiful film, one with an unexpected emotional wallop.

Rose Byrne's performance alone makes this film worth a look (it still airs occasionally on sundance). Actors who take on the challenging role of blind characters are nothing new- but to see a talented actress take to it with total commitment and still be very believable and not over the top is something special. Rose Byrne is brilliant here as B.G. and really shines in the more subtle moments, which are the primary driving force for this Clara Law film.

The theme of incest abuse and it's lingering affects through generations make for very heavy subject matter that would otherwise threaten to undermine the film's subtle tone - but it's told in flashback here and works surprisingly well. The comparisons of style to Wenders and Jarmusch are apt since it is precisely the more subtle scenes in this film that resonate more as the viewer gets drawn into the lives and past histories of this unlikely couple.

Not a perfect film by any means - the loving yet determinist, religious mother, Marie could have been fleshed out more, as well as the male lead - but the real gem here is Rose Byrne. Disregard the fluff roles from wicker park and troy, this is arguably her best performance to date.