The Goddess of 1967

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TOMATOMETER

Total Count: N/A

80%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 779

Movie Info

Two young people with little in common are thrown together under unusual circumstances in this offbeat drama directed by Clara Law, who made a number of well-received films in Hong Kong before emigrating to Australia. Yoshiyashi (Rikiya Kurokawa) is an expert computer hacker and snake enthusiast who travels to Australia from his home in Tokyo to buy the car of his dreams -- a perfectly restored 1967 Citroen DS. However, when Yoshiyashi arrives at the home of the man selling the car, he makes a shocking discovery -- the owner has killed his wife and turned the gun on himself, leaving behind Deidre (Rose Byrne), the man's niece, who is both blind and emotionally unstable. As it turns out, the Citroen is still for sale, but now Yoshiyashi must make his deal with one of the man's relatives, who lives a five-day drive away. Yoshiyashi brings Deidre along for the ride, who in the course of the trip learns a lot about Yoshiyashi's studied cool, while he gets clearer perspective on the troubled past behind her impulsive eccentricity. The Goddess of 1967 was shown in competition at the 2000 Venice and Toronto film festivals. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Comedy, Drama, Romance
Directed By:

Clara Law
Written By:

Clara Law, Eddie L C Fong, Eddie Ling-Ching Fong
In Theaters:

May 10, 2000 limited
On Disc/Streaming:

Mar 27, 2007
Runtime:

118 minutes
Studio:

Fortissimo Film Sales

Cast

Rose Byrne
as Girl

Nicholas Hope
as Grandfather

Elise McCredie
as Marie

Rikiya Kurokawa

John Boxer

Tina Bursill

Dominic Condon

Tim McGarry

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Critic Reviews for The Goddess of 1967

All Critics (4) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (1) | Rotten (3)

I get the sense that if this film really clicks with you, it is something that you'd really love and hold dear. I, on the other hand, just couldn't get into the film.

Jun 21, 2007 | Rating: C | Full Review…

Jason Gorber
Film Scouts
You may be surprised to find yourself revisiting key scenes for days afterwards.

May 22, 2001 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

Andrew Howe
eFilmCritic.com

View All Critic Reviews (4)

Audience Reviews for The Goddess of 1967

Nov 22, 2011

Traveling wildly through forbidden and forgotten landscapes and through different eras, encompassing different scenarios of either graphic or tacit brutality, Clara Law experiments with two endlessly contrasting characters in a futile search of any means that may represent the construction of an eternal oblivion. Like a haunting sample of artistic cinema gathering New Wave tendencies and a couple of remnants of old Czech experimentation, <i>The Goddess of 1967</i> is a surrealistic triumph of Aussie cinema thanks to the vision of an underrated cinema heroin. <i>"I want to buy god"</i> 97/100

Edgar C Super Reviewer
Oct 31, 2009

Clara Law photographs a journey into wilderness, and very carefully, step by step, she brings to light the protagonist's sordid past of sexual abuse. Rose Byrne looks like she was made for this part. She shines throughout the film, and makes this difficult journey, worthwhile. It's not an easy film to watch, but it rewards you, with the wide mystifying shots of the wild landscape, and the charm of the "Goddess". Essentially, it feels like you're looking at two different films, until the two protagonists meet. His story, and her story. Luckily, in the end, the journey is theirs, both.

Anastasia B Super Reviewer
Aug 22, 2008

A staggering blending of alternative values where orientation is lost even by the ones who aren't blind.Law torches sensitivity by deleting the primal instincts of any such conceptual difference,her body of work is (whatever the case may be) a research of emotional behavior through any series of events.Sexual desire is not restrained to just a physical grasp,it also motivates viewers to empathize,yell,express disappointment over the injustice in both characters' revision of their lives.A Man and a Woman,unidentified as is the case with most of us,wanderers of a worldwide outback.

Dimitris S Super Reviewer