Somersault (2004)

Director:

Cate Shortland

Writer:

Cate Shortland (written by)

Release Date:

16 September 2004 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Love can turn you upside down.

Plot:

New experiences help a young girl learn the differences between sex and love.

Plot Keywords:

Convenience Store | Unicorn | Scrapbook | Sex | Love

Awards:

40 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Abbie Cornish	...	Heidi
Damian de Montemas	...	Adam
Olivia Pigeot	...	Nicole
Alex Babic	...	Brian the barman
Elizabeth Muntar	...	Ticket Vendor
Justin Martin	...	Guy
Ben Tate	...	Sean
Joshua Phillips	...	Josh
Sam Worthington	...	Joe
Nathaniel Dean	...	Stuart
Paul Gleeson	...	Roy
Bruce Ross	...	Staring Man
Lynette Curran	...	Irene
John Sheerin	...	Pat
Anne-Louise Lambert	...	Martha (as Anne Louise Lambert)

Also Known As:

More Than Scarlet (Australia) (working title)

Runtime:

106 min | Germany:99 min (TV version)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | USA:Not Rated | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:MA | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:16 | Singapore:M18 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Red Carpet Productions

Trivia:

Made a clean sweep of the Australian Film Institute awards in 2004 to win in all 13 film categories - the first time this has ever occurred in the award's history. It beat the previous record of eleven AFI awards by The Piano (1993).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Joe pours hot water onto the icy windscreen of his car, no steam appears.

Soundtrack:

Cold Waltz

Nice acting, shame about the story - or lack thereof

Beautifully shot and well acted, but as a movie this fails as anything other than a character study, and is frustrating even as that. There is no real plot. The closest you could come to encapsulating what the film is about would be to describe it as a coming-of-age story for the lead character, Heidi. But does she really grow or mature that much? And what exactly is going on with the other character who fills the screen for much of the movie - Joe? We never find out. I'm sorry, but I get the "I'm a country bloke and I have trouble showing me feelings" bit in the first 10 minutes I've seen him on screen. I need a bit more than that to sustain me in such a film that relies on character as much as this one. And there ain't much more. Lots of moody shots of Lake Jindabyne and close-ups of Abbie Cornish internalising her emotions do not a movie make. A story would be nice. That's what most folks want when they pay their $15 to see a movie, and maybe that's why, despite all the awards in a weak field of Australian films this year, this film is failing to get much of an audience through the door.