unrelated_thing
I loved this movie. It is lovely to look at, especially the way the scenery is filmed (& I don't care who tries to contemptuously dismiss it as 'arty'. I don't want to look at tourist brochure cinematography, a la 'Japanese Story' - I've already been to the outback & seen the scenery). The characters felt real to me (& never acted in ways that were inconsistent with or unexplained in terms of their personality & motives, unlike Toni Colette's character in 'Japanese Story'). If you do not tend to connect with or understand characters who have lived isolated or socially marginalised lives, you may react the way the previous reviewer did (i.e. with annoyed disdain). However, if your life has not followed the mainstream-media 'happy families' narrative, you might, as I did, be able to deeply relate to the main characters, as well as the whole sense & sensibility of this movie.
kyoto1981
Ended up seeing this film(looked like it was shot on HD camera though) on Sundance Channel this morning by coincident, or otherwise I would never see it or known/heard of it for the rest of my life although I see films indiscrimatorily and very frequently.Despite the buzz it received at festivals around the world, it's just too damn hard to find films like this. Plot is rather interesting... a young Japanese guy coming to Auttraria to pick up his car. Indeed this reminds me of Jim Jarmusch's "Mystery Train", which definitely must have inspired the writers. Cinematography... from student cinematographer's point of view, was generic. It looked like just another graduate thesis from every film school around America: Tarkovsky-alikes. Personally I am tired of seeing films like that. Production designer and sound people didn't do their jobs so that the film made me think that it was a student film(, and scene at a noodle stand in Japan... too fake, man!).
Max-181
I don't mind art house movies and slow moving ones, and this one certainly is, but what made the movie watchable for me was the very beautiful Rikiya Kurokawa. The honesty of his performance was worth watching. Not to mention how gorgeous he is. His love making scene with Rose Byrne's character is very sensual and hot. He is worth every minute of this picture. I look forward to seeing his do more. This was welcome introduction.
mtnbiker404
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.
AD
