The Goddess of 1967 (2000)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Clara Law

Writers:

Eddie Ling-Ching Fong (writer)
Clara Law (writer)

Release Date:

26 January 2001 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

"Goddess" stands for French "Déesse", the nickname of Citroën DS, the name of a famous car designed in the fifties...

Plot Keywords:

Car | Australia | Attempted Rape | Incest | Japan

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Rose Byrne	...	B.G.
Rikiya Kurokawa	...	J.M.
Nicholas Hope	...	Grandpa
Elise McCredie	...	Marie
Tim Richards	...	Drummer Boy
Bree Beadman	...	B.G. aged 9
Satya Gumbert	...	Marie aged 9
Tina Bursill	...	Esther
Dominic Condon	...	Mr. Hughes
Tim McGarry	...	Detective
John Boxer	...	Barman
Harry Lawrence	...	Old Man in Bar
Masao Ishiguro	...	Noodle Man
Stephanie Daniel	...	Radio Announcer (voice)
Jean-Pierre Mignon	...	D.S. Sergeant (voice)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:MA | Brazil:12 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:III | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

New South Wales Film & Television Office

Rose Byrne is a revelation.

The visual style and irregular story structure of this one is almost too unique at first. It really catches you off guard and feels strange and uncomfortable for the first couple of scenes. However, once the road trip starts and it becomes a two-character journey, the awkwardness settles down and allows you to become more relaxed and involved. The three main flashback scenes feel unnecessary and distracting at first, but once we make it to the finale everything comes full circle and all of the 'unecessary' filler from before just adds more and more to the complexities of Rose's character. So the entire film is pretty much just a buildup for the finale, which can be annoying and unstructured. The final payoff also isn't nearly worth the amount of seemingly pointless distractions throughout. Also the character of J.M. was extremely pointless and annoying. His only reasoning for being in the story is to propel B.G.'s story and give her a way of getting to where she needs to go. He doesn't develop at all, and we never learn anything about his ridiculously mysterious past. It's no bother though, because I would suffer any kind of torture in order to see Rose's performance. There is honestly no way to describe how utterly perfect she is. It's the second greatest female performance I've ever seen. She handles so much inner pain, turmoil and emotions that I can't even imagine what playing the part must have done to her. She's adorable, heartbreaking, hilarious, annoying, upsetting and strong all in one singular face. And she does all of this without an actor's best weapon; their eyes. It's the stuff legends are made of, and one of the five greatest performances of all time. Anything is worth enduring to see that performance.