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)
Erik Thomson	...	Richard
Hollie Andrew	...	Bianca
Archer Lyttle	...	Pete
Leah Purcell	...	Diane
Blake Pittman	...	Karl
Erica Englert	...	Rachel
Stephanie Overs	...	Clare
Caroline Lowe	...	Waitress
Diana Glenn	...	Sally
Toby Schmitz	...	John
Henry Nixon	...	Nick
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mark McCann	...	Caravan park manager (uncredited)

Directed by
Cate Shortland

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Cate Shortland		written by

Produced by
Anthony Anderson	....	producer
Jan Chapman	....	executive producer
Miranda Dear	....	commissioning editor

Original Music by
Decoder Ring

Cinematography by
Robert Humphreys		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Scott Gray

Casting by
Nikki Barrett

Production Design by
Melinda Doring

Art Direction by
Janie Parker

Set Decoration by
Glen W. Johnson

Costume Design by
Emily Seresin

Makeup Department
Angela Conte	....	hair stylist supervisor
Angela Conte	....	makeup supervisor
Helene Glover	....	hair stylist
Helene Glover	....	makeup artist
Kellie Griffin	....	hair stylist
Kellie Griffin	....	makeup artist
Sheldon Wade	....	hair stylist
Sheldon Wade	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Colleen Clarke	....	post-production supervisor
Felix Reitin	....	unit manager: Canberra (as Felix Reiten)
Libby Sharpe	....	production manager
Naomi Wenck	....	post-production supervisor
Cameron Wintour	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kate North Ash	....	third assistant director
John Martin	....	first assistant director
Ed Raymond	....	second assistant director (as Eddie Raymond)

Art Department
Robert Fischper	....	set painter
Katrina Fish	....	art department assistant
Sharyn Fulton	....	props buyer
Roxana Knittel	....	graphics assistant
Brooke Morris	....	art department assistant
Michael O'Sullivan	....	stand-by props
Dave Philpott	....	construction manager
Catherine Raven	....	art department attachment
Katerina Stratos	....	graphic artist
Ivan Siebel	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Yulia Akerholt	....	dialogue editor
Mark Blackwell	....	sound recordist
Bronwyn Coleman	....	sound department attachment
Bruce Emery	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby Stereo
Mark Franken	....	sound effects editor
Jasmine Gufford	....	Atmos editor (as Jasmine Guffond)
Damon Mouris	....	adr recordist
Sam Petty	....	sound designer
Sam Petty	....	sound re-recording mixer
Blair Slater	....	foley engineer
Ben Smith	....	boom operator
Peter D. Smith	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Peter Smith)
Mario Vaccaro	....	foley walker
Andy Wright	....	adr recordist
Liz Wright	....	liaison: Soundfirm Australia

Special Effects by
Tim O'Brien	....	special effects coordinator
Cameron Potter	....	special effects assistant
Peter Stubbs	....	special effects director

Visual Effects by
Jonathan Dixon	....	digital optical effects (as Jon Dixon)
Rebecca Dunn	....	digital optical effects
Robert Sandeman	....	digital optical effects

Stunts
Robert Simper	....	stunt coordinator (as Rob Simper)

Camera and Electrical Department
Dave Anderson	....	best boy
Carolyn Constantine	....	director of photography: second unit (as Carolyne Constantine)
Bonnie Elliott	....	focus puller: second unit
Ben Jasper	....	additional camera operator: second unit
Nigel Joseph	....	grip: second unit
Danielle Kinsela	....	lighting stand-in
Elise Lockwood	....	still photographer
Stuart Longhurst	....	additional grip
Geoff Maine	....	gaffer
Daniel McCrea	....	video split operator
Matthew Nettheim	....	still photographer (as Matt Nettheim)
Kevin Scott	....	focus puller
Michael Thompson	....	assistant grip
Nigel Tomkinson	....	clapper loader
Jason Trew	....	key grip
Paul Young	....	third electrician

Casting Department
Antonia Halse	....	casting assistant
Dex Tallo	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Shareen Beringer	....	costume supervisor
Natasha Harrison	....	costume assistant
Abbie Mawhinney	....	costume assistant
Flip Wootten	....	stand-by wardrobe (as Phillippa 'Flip' Wootten)

Editorial Department
Rodrigo Balart	....	first assistant editor
Greg Chapman	....	negative matcher
Miranda Dear	....	commissioning editor: SBS Independent
Olivier Fontenay	....	color grader
Alan Hansen	....	digital colorist
Andrew Soo	....	editing attachment

Music Department
Ken Davis	....	musician: decoder ring
Ben Ely	....	musician: decoder ring
Matt Fitzgerald	....	musician: decoder ring
Pete Kelly	....	musician: decoder ring
Liz O'Grady	....	music score coordinator
Norman Parkhill	....	music supervisor
Tom Schutzinger	....	musician: decoder ring

Transportation Department
Bruce Ross	....	vehicle coordinator

Other crew
Paul Adzic	....	production runner
Damien Archer	....	unit assistant
Sam Benson	....	caterer
Ben Breen	....	production accountant
Leigh Brezler	....	assistant to producer
Jane Campion	....	script advisor: Aurora
Andy Canny	....	title designer
Kate Champion	....	choreographer
Jan Chapman	....	script advisor: Aurora
Emma Cohen	....	unit nurse
Camera Cooks	....	caterer
Nikki Creed	....	accounting assistant
Sophie Dick	....	production coordinator
Robert Festinger	....	script advisor: Aurora (as Rob Festinger)
Rob Fisher	....	completion guarantor
Demyan Golushinsky	....	production runner
Rhonda Hall	....	wrangler: deer & cat
Megan Harding	....	base office liaison
Amanda Higgs	....	script editor
Mike Honey	....	cutting room: Spectrum Films
Allan Hull	....	race caller
Paul Kiely	....	script supervisor
Amy Lucas	....	long form producer
Jim Luce	....	dog wrangler
Don MacDonald	....	dog wrangler
Donna McCrum	....	title designer
Marlay Mcintosh	....	production runner
Leona McKenzie	....	rushes liaison
Appellee McLeod	....	accounting assistant
Chris McNamara	....	unit assistant
Kate Meyer	....	post-production accountant
Victoria Mielewska	....	dialogue coach
Denise Morgan	....	script editor
Afra Mullins	....	assistant production coordinator
Sue Murray	....	script advisor: Aurora
Fiona Nix	....	unit publicist
Chris Noonan	....	script advisor: Aurora
Annelies Norland	....	location manager
Liz O'Grady	....	band manager: Decoder Ring
Scott Parsons	....	unit assistant
Wayne Pleace	....	safety report
Clare Pollard	....	caterer
Hans Pomeranz	....	cutting room: Spectrum Films
Josh Pomeranz	....	cutting room: Spectrum Films
Jason Resnick	....	script advisor: Aurora
Tony Safford	....	script advisor: Aurora
Greg Short	....	lab liaison
Robert Simper	....	safety coordinator (as Rob Simper)
Stuart Smith	....	caterer
Sally Steele	....	publicist
Jo Stewart	....	post-production script
Geoff Stier	....	script advisor: Aurora
Heng Tang	....	assistant to director
Duncan Thompson	....	script advisor: Aurora
Alison Tilson	....	script advisor: Aurora
Caroline Verge	....	legal services
Graham Ware	....	horse wrangler
Liz Wright	....	liaison: Soundfirm

Thanks
Wouter Barendrecht	....	acknowledgment: for Fortissimo Film Sales
Josh Bassett	....	special thanks
Grace Parr	....	special thanks
Vashti Richards	....	special thanks
Trish Watts	....	special thanks
Michael J. Werner	....	acknowledgment: for Fortissimo Film Sales
Jakub Zaremba	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Red Carpet Productions
• Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)
• Fortissimo Films
• New South Wales Film & Television Office
• Showtime Australia

Distributors

• 1More Film (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Hopscotch Productions (2004) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Look Now! (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Magnolia Pictures (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Prokino Filmverleih (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Vision Distribution (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Filmtrix (special effects supervision)

Other Companies

• Cameraquip Australia  camera equipment provided by
• Ali Peck  film stock
• Alison Barrett Casting  casting assistance
• Atlab  laboratory services
• Big Ears Productions  sound post-production facilities (as Big Ears)
• Big Toys  grip truck and equipment
• Cam Can Films  unit vehicles
• Cinefinance  completion guarantor
• Com Select Communications  motorolas
• Empire Film Services  unit vehicles
• Film Support  film stock
• Frame, Set & Match  rushes & video mastering
• HW Wood Australia  insurance
• Maine Lighting  lighting equipment
• Moneypenny Services  financial services provided by (as Moneypenny Services)
• Negthink  negative matching
• Optical & Graphics  end titles film record
• Pacific Generators  unit vehicles
• Perisher Security  security & traffic management
• Plus  title design
• Reel Freight Solutions  freight agent
• Showfilm  travel agent
• Soundfirm  sound post-production facilities (as Soundfirm)
• Spectrum Films International  cutting rooms (as Spectrum Films)
• Spectrum Films International  post-production facilities
• Top Shelf Vehicle Services  unit vehicles
• Verge Whitford & Co  legal services

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:

The coach that Heidi boards to take her to Jindabyne is shown to depart from the Belconnen bus interchange in North Canberra (there is a bit of artistic license at work here as the Belconnen interchange only deals with Canberra's internal bus service).

Goofs:

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

Soundtrack:

Once Again

The pain of young love, complete with an anti-male feminist slant

Those who haven't understood Somersault's main themes or appreciated it as a perceptive piece of film-making may well be afflicted with the same delusional shortcomings of its characters: an inability to connect with others, or to have them connect with you. I've not seen a film that condenses and represents the small-town Australian mindset so well, presenting it through a minimalist script that relies on good acting, and using a paradoxical setting (cold, bleak and snowy Jindabyne rather than a stereotypical Australian locale). Sure there's little in the way of plot because this is gritty realism, not fanciful escapism; this is a film to get you thinking, not sitting boggle-eyed at a pageant of movement and dialog.

The central theme of Somersault is young males, females and how they dance around each other in the search for intimacy, almost always failing and causing each other enormous pain in the process. Men come out of this depiction far worse, as this is undoubtedly a feminist portrayal of the gender wars. The male characters have equal portions of tragedy, hurtful indifference and stupidity: Joe, Heidi's love interest, simply cannot share intimate moments, communicate his feelings or even admit that he has them; he can have plenty of sex, of course, but emotion seems beyond him. When he finally does encounter a moment of pause about his relationship with Heidi, he propositions the local homosexual in the mistaken belief that this 'weakness' might mean he is gay. The other male figure presented are Heidi's mother's lecherous boyfriend, various tourist-types solely on the lookout for sex, and two fathers, one who is wooden and emotionless, the other a manipulative liar ... hardly an appealing mob.

Heidi, however, is an engaging character whose naive attempts to win affection are painful. At once child-like and innocent yet womanly and sexual, her exploitation, isolation and rejection are bitter and tragic; like most teenagers she struggles to learn from her mistakes and merely rebounds to the next. A scene in a Chinese restaurant where she swallows an entire bowl of chilies is symbolic of the self-torture that young women often force themselves to endure in failing relationships. Strongly acted by Abbie Cornish, Heidi's eventual redemption is not unpredictable but nor is it overplayed or overemphasized ... and when it does come it seems welcome, even happy. Somersault plays like one long life-lesson, though its themes and implications are timeless and universal for all young people. A well-crafted film whose only fault is a tendency to overstate its men-as-villains and women-as-victims premise.