This film combines an interesting and meaningful plot with cinematography which is a tribute to the many textures of Australia and some restrained but insightful acting and direction. Most of the funding for the movie was from two state governments. The producers have had to be sparing with their special effects. Despite this the film has more atmosphere than most Hollywood films with budgets in the tens of millions. This film does not shout any particular message at its audience, so how much you see is really up to you. Many films about such a sensitive topic can be too heavy handed. It is a great credit to Clara Law that she says so much so quietly.

Like too many arthouse movies 'The Goddess of 1967' seems to think that some excellent cinematography is enough to carry a superficial script full of stereotypical characters. It isn't. Apart from a handful of memorable visual images I can think of nothing positive to say about this movie. One again, a non-Australian shows a group of ugly Australian cliches against a background of a beautiful but harsh landscape. Personally I'm sick of this outdated, narrow view which in no way represents the diversity and richness of contemporary Australian life. To add further to the shallowness and predictability of this movie the Japanese car buff played by newcomer Rikiya Kurokawa is so poorly developed and pointless that he may as well wear a t-shirt saying "silly Asian character" and leave it at that. The inexplicably touted Rose Byrne's "fiesty blind girl with a dark past" has slightly more depth, but only just. The "odd couple" with a "culture clash" on a "quirky road trip" where they "find themselves" - c'mon! Haven't we seen this kind of lazy scenario too many times before already? This is third rate film school stuff with nothing new or original to say despite its pretensions. Give this one a miss unless you love cars as much as "Boy" does. There's no other reason to sit through this dull, mediocre arthouse bore.

I just finished viewing this movie (The Goddess of 1967) that my roommate had rented and was quite moved by it. On a basic level, it's a tale of contrasts. That of a naive, young Japanese man (Rikiya Kurokawa) and a blind Australian girl, Deidre (Rose Byrne). The movie tells of their journey through the Australian outback after the Japanese man travels to Australia in search of the car of his dreams, a classic French Citroen. Of course it's much deeper than that. The trip is not a vacation, but a journey of release particularly for the young woman who has been tormented for most of her short life by the horrible memories of sexual abuse and a mother who failed to stop it. Unbeknownst to the young man he has been taken on a ride that will open his eyes to a world he never knew existed. In return, Deidre, encounters many things she has never experienced before from a man. Those are compassion, honesty and true love. There is one wonderful scene where he teaches her to dance in a lonely bar in the middle of nowhere. To see the joy in the face of someone who has, in her unfortunate life, rarely experienced such feelings is truly uplifting. I had to watch that scene more than once. In the end, Deidre, finds the peace she is looking for. Perhaps not in the way she thought she might, but she does. And that's something she so much deserves.

This film does several things that are hard to read and harder to fully appreciate without being hammered over the head with the story's themes. The film is set up as a series of overlapping contrasts, and that is the part I'm most stricken by. Contrasts of culture, morality, experience, gender, needs and conclusions. The film sets up expectations for the characters, then proceeds to change said expectations as the characters evolve and reveal like layers peeling away. I'm awed by much of the delicate caress of the pacing, and the contrast of the beautiful way many of the scenes are shot against the contents of the scenes themselves. I adore this film.