The Goddess of 1967 (2000)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

While some of the content of the film was not something I enjoy watching, there were two things that I did enjoy. The first was the slower, unrushed pace at which the story unfolded. Many times you were left to absorb the characters and situations without the writers feeling the need to fill up the silence (both words and movement). The second aspect I enjoyed *very* much was the photography. I have not seen a film with such fabulous photography in many a while. Certainly the Australian outback is a lovely creature but seemingly almost every frame was beautifully composed as well as displaying very rich and striking colours or -- when in not in the sunny outdoors -- tonal contrast. In addition, many of the camera movements added to the feeling of the story rather than be a distraction as in so many movies. The photography was such that I actively looked for the director of it in the credits, which thing I rarely do.

I don't have time to go into in-depth considered praise for this film, but it's a film I have watched several times, and feel it deserves a pat-on-the-back. Although some of the underlying issues that the main characters have gone through are in many respects very serious and macabre, I don't think it was the director's intent to make this a depressing movie which dwells on those issues alone. Goddess is an art movie. It's designed to be visually different and controversial for its handling of subject matter. Blindness, incest, murder, dysfunctionality. An unexpected combination of events against the spectacular backdrop of the Australian outback. Ironically, the central character is blind, and cannot see all this visual beauty directly. But, she somehow finds a strength and sensitivity amongst the far from beautiful physical abuse she grown up with. Somehow with this is intertwined an ex-fashion model from Japan, and a cult car. It's an artistic celluloid canvas. I don't think an average director could put all these elements together and come off with a really watchable and intriguing movie. I love the central character's feisty, yet carefree independence. Free-spirited female viewers will love this. I think most male viewers will miss the subtlety of the movie's intent, and will therefore not enjoy it so much. Makes a really refreshing change from your regular Hollywood flick.

"The Goddess of 1967" is a maddeningly pretentious film that tries too hard to capture the flair and dynamism of new-wave film-making without the artistry to back it up. The film's first half is almost unbearable, but there are some more conventional moments in the latter stages that lend the work some much needed credibility. Clara Law's directing technique is first-year film school stuff with a lot of unnecessary appendages that do little other than distract; and the story is a fairly stale reworking of tired old themes about betrayal, revenge and redemption built upon on a narrative of incest and sexual transgression. The Japanese sub-plot and characters seem tacked on to lend an air of otherness that seems redundant. The failure of the approach is emphasised by the weak script that often times reads likes poor poetry (I was reminded of David Brent's "Excalibur"). Even Rose Byrne's gorgeous face can do little to make this film watchable.

Visually impressive in a way that few films are, The Goddess of 1967 is a sumptuous feast for the eyes. Unfortunately all the eye candy in the world can't save a film that suffers dreadfully from being extremely self indulgent. There's nothing wrong with a slow film as evidenced by such cinematic gems as The Thin Red Line so long as the winding narrative path takes the audience somewhere. The Goddess of 1967 fails in this regard. Ponderous and meandering, The Goddess of 1967 is a tedious example of a film overly impressed with its own importance.