March Around The World Film #2 - Australia 

A road trip that criss-crosses timelines between a Young Japanese man’s quest to purchase the Goddess 1967 (a gorgeous pink Citroen) and a young blind woman’s reconciliation with her past. Clara Law’s surrealistic road trip through rural Australian takes Rikiya Kurokawa and Rose Byrne on personal journeys that unfold in parallel through pretty heartbreaking territory. 

Visually stunning, colourful and quirky, Law balances the horror with humour and artistry in just the right way.  You are engaged, moved and left feeling blessed to have spent two hours with these two special people.  And there’s a wonderful dance scene I’m surprised I didn’t already know about.  

This is one of Rose Byrne’s first features and she is absolutely magnificent.  

Thank you Lise for the recommendation. It was pretty brilliant.

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, The Goddess of 1967 is a surrealistic triumph of Aussie cinema thanks to the vision of an underrated cinema heroin.

"I want to buy god"

96/100

This movie has too much on its mind, which makes some plot points feel underdeveloped, but Rose Byrne’s performance helps make up for the uneven execution.

you know when you wake up from a pleasant dream and for a few minutes everything in the world still feels dazzling and magical? but you're also sweating and have a huge boner

This film is an emotional whack on the head. It's thematically heavy with an array of issues like child abuse, murder, and incest but leaves you positively light when the credits roll.

quite possibly the best australian film I've ever seen

it’s called expressive dancing and i think it’s fun x

Beside the dance scene, this was totally noodles for me.

Rose Byrne won the Volpi Cup in Venice for her performance in this film and it's easy to see why. She's magnetic on screen, not least of all for the ways she transcends the tropes of the flame-haired, blind, manic pixie character that her role could have easily slid into. Director Clara Law, who with only three Australian films became one of the most vital voices of the industry for a short while, does a rather spellbinding job of blending Asian cinema visuals with the harsh outback as superbly lensed by Dion Beebe.

An ode to Rose Byrne's hair, an ode to Rose Byrne's performance.

The dance scene is magical and full of life, the rest sadly wasn't my cup of tea, specially the experimental rear projection in the car scenes really got on my nerves.

For #FemaleDirectedFriday

i love them and that dance scene was cute as fuck but i seriously need movies to stop showing me these uncomfortable ass sex scenes

quite possibly the best australian film I've ever seen

"[...] it is the great tactile phase of discovery, the moment when visual wonder is about to receive the reasoned assault of touch (for touch is the most demystifying of all senses, unlike sight, which is the most magical)"
-Barthes, Mythologies

Bugman with recent upwards class mobility meets destitute outback dreamgirl. He teaches her a bit more about seeing, she teaches him a bit more about feeling.

I fucking love Rose Byrne and this is like all of my favorite early 2000’s films in one but more Australian.

that babadook "why can't you just be normal" meme but she's the world film industry & Australia is the screaming child

i knew its not gonna be a 'cute' road movie after only 5 mins in. and yeah you cute japanese man lemme sniff your armpit too!!

rose invented acting

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

it’s called expressive dancing and i think it’s fun x

This movie has too much on its mind, which makes some plot points feel underdeveloped, but Rose Byrne’s performance helps make up for the uneven execution.

so, so much more than what you expect this film to be

The Goddess of 1967 has the qualities of an early aughts independent film yet still feel unique through its cinematography and bizarre imagery that creates such an otherworldly experience. Rose Byrne won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice International Film Festival in 2000 for this film which already shows her versatility as an actress that is still underappreciated today.

Always a pleasure to discover hidden gems by watching early films of your favorite actors.