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Somersault (2004) More at IMDbPro »

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60 reviews in total

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58 out of 68 people found the following review useful:
The pain of young love, complete with an anti-male feminist slant, 13 May 2005
Author: SteveThomp from Victoria, Australia

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.

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44 out of 52 people found the following review useful:
Very well done, 13 June 2005

Author: brucebarr from Australia

Although slow to start I found I became increasingly involved in the story (young girl finding out what's appropriate in life and love) as the characters lives unfolded. By the end I was totally hooked. There might have been an attempt to show too many facets of the Australian character in this movie, but, in the end I didn't mind because the characterizations were so good. Rare to find in any movie. Was also nice to enjoy some good acting from unknown faces and excellent cinematography - the film had a great look - pale blue/white and red, and good editing. Don't be put off by the negative comments in other reviews, I know I shouldn't say this, but I think they've missed the point :)

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22 out of 26 people found the following review useful:
a poetic gem, 9 August 2005

Author: Margie24 from New York City

I saw a screening of this in New York City in late March, and I loved it. I thought about this movie for many days afterward, and it is one of the best films I've seen all year. It is scheduled for an October release.

This was a beautiful, poetic film- one that touched me both on an artistic level and a deeply personal level. Although I am forty-five now, the movie took me on a vivid journey back to my own adolescence, and the truth that Ms. Shortland captured about "Heidi," and the relationship between "Heidi" and "Joe" was breathtakingly realistic.

Somewhere during my viewing, I realized I was watching one those rare works of art which so startlingly and accurately paint a piece of the human experience that is both reflective of its time and place and destined to transcend them. "Heidi's" red gloves become the self-protective coat of armor to an Aussie teen-aged a girl of the twenty-first century the way "Holden's" red hunting cap served the same purpose to the confused, distraught adolescent of 1940's New York City.

The acting is superb, and there is not a false note anywhere to be found in any of the elements of this film.

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25 out of 33 people found the following review useful:
Teen girl runs away from home, and learns hard lessons, 13 March 2005

Author: rusingram from Plano, TX

I saw this film this weekend at a film festival in Austin, Texas, without having heard anything about it ahead of time, and without reading any reviews. I suspect that going in to the theater without any expectations made it more enjoyable to watch.

The cinematography was excellent, and the acting was quite strong. The script was a bit weak, but did not get in the way of the film being engaging and interesting. The story is a bit ethereal at times, by design I think, and flows gradually as the scenes change.

I'd recommend it, especially for anyone who is comfortable with unconventional scripts.

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13 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
More straightforward telling would have helped, 2 April 2005

Author: Alain English from London, England

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

"Somersault" is a vivid, interesting coming-of-age tale about a young girl who runs away from home, and quickly has encounters and experiences that force her to grow up fast.

Heidi (Abbie Cornish) is a lively teenage girl living at home with her single mother (Olivia Pigeot). When she's caught kissing her mum's creepy tattooed boyfriend, she does a runner, ending up in a lowly ski resort. She charms her way into a job and a place to stay, but soon her abundant sexuality and immaturity mean she eventually becomes unstuck...

This is a bleaker depiction of Australia than is seen in most popular soap operas. Shot in shades of grey and blue, it is shown to be a cold, barren wasteland inhabited by disconnected, lonely human beings. Director Cate Shortland shows this off to good effect, but could have done without the arty shots of falling leaves, and slow-motion captures of passing countryside and kept the story told in a more straightforward way.

The coming-of-age plot is a standard hook, naive teenage girl uses newfound sexuality to achieve intimacy, people exploit her, she defeats this and becomes hardened and wiser as a result. "Somersault" does not quite follow this path, and while there is a suggestion that Heidi has become wiser by the end, it is clear she still has a lot of growing up to do. Throughout, the girl seems dazed and disconnected by the real world around her, and in this the parallel between her and an autistic boy she encounters is not exploited nearly enough.

As Heidi, Abbie Cornish gives a performance that is at once sultry and naive. With blonde hair, fresh face and husky voice, Abbie captures the girl's sensuality and insecurity very well. The only flaw is the primordial scream she lets out on losing her job at a serving station. That is the only false note in her entire performance. Sam Worthington plays Joe, the only character in the film who truly understands her, while dealing with demons and anxieties all his own. Sam delivers a subtle, noteworthy performance.

Not perfect and a tad too arty in places, "Somersault" should nevertheless be the basis for more Australian pictures.

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9 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Alice in a Bleak Wonderland, 3 May 2006

Author: nycritic

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The girl who wanted touch, affection, and love. Heidi, a teenage girl living with her mother, touches her mother's boyfriend's tattoo and finds herself sharing a moment of sexual intimacy. Why would she leave the door open in what seems a small apartment leads me to believe she wanted to get caught at a subconscious level, because of a need she has to be noticed. This is a girl with major issues, stemming perhaps from abandonment -- her biological father is never mentioned nor seen -- and who has a magnetism of presence and a preternatural sensuality that she uses without knowing the repercussions.

This is the premise of Cate Shortland's bleak, but unforgettable coming-of-age tale of of a sixteen year old girl who decides to take matters into her own hands and become Alice, falling through the rabbit-hole, and taking the steps to her own awakening. It's not a new idea (then again, what is?) -- the theme of an underage girl leaving home and wandering alien streets, often at the expense of meeting dangers that lie in wait have been done to death, even in a gender-bending movie like BREAKFAST ON PLUTO.

However, this is an at-a-glance observation. There's much more going on in Shortland's movie. It could be seen as an allegory on the search for love in a world of illusion: Heidi seeks men because deep inside, she wants to connect, to belong, to love and be loved. She missteps the second time around with a guy she meets at a club and who leaves her the next morning for his girlfriend. A phone call from what seems to have been a trick also proves fruitless. Upon looking for a job to support herself she makes the mistake of flirting with a store owner and then an older man sitting outside in a vehicle in a parking lot.

And then she meets Joe (Sam Worthington, in a role reminiscent of Heath Ledger in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN due to his character's stoic nature and resistance to communication). Joe is a young farmer who has, we learn later on, never been with a woman, much less expressed affection towards them. He's an alcoholic, and has what seems to be his own sexual turmoil. Heidi's relation with Joe is nearly wordless and relies on touch, on gestures, on moments of restrained intimacy that differentiates it from her previous sexual encounters. However, she wants more: she brings the issue of expressing affection towards Joe who warns her with two words, "baby steps." However, the heart wants what it wants, and hers craves love, and thus ostracizes Joe.

So what happens when what seems to be a sure chance at love fails or looks like it's going due south? Heidi unravels like a spool of string let loose.

First she's invited to a co-worker's house where she meets the man with whom she flirted with in order to get a job. This time, he's not as nice but chilling: he drives her home, and details more cerebral than seen indicate he's raped Heidi while warning her never to come close to his daughter again. It's a masterful scene of restrained horror, in which the camera focuses on Lake Jindabyne, the night sky, and Abbie Cornish's chiaroscuro face as tears stream down her face and the man teases a lock of her hair.

Later, she spins completely out of control and gets herself in a horrible predicament, but this is precisely what has Heidi make a turnaround. It's, again, what seems to me to be an allegory of growing up from a child to an adult in a world that is full of hues of blues and magentas and holds little reality but enormous danger. Heidi is a precocious young woman, drifting from failed encounter to failed encounter until she realizes that it doesn't matter -- being loved -- and makes an important gesture of rejection, a reversal at that, to Joe's extended hand. She's grown up, and faces a future.

Cate Shortland's movie is a little uneven. It looks at time that shots are kept in order to maintain a poetic nature that somehow gets lost in translation -- it's as if the movie were overdirected. Abbie Cornish, however, rescues the movie and is a revelation as an actress, allowing her own body language and sad, questioning eyes to do the talking in a part that is complex because it requires that the actor playing it shed all notions of glamour while exuding it -- the kind that does exist in rough trade. She pulls off playing a girl playing a woman with such ease that I almost forgot it was actual acting. Ergo, the movie belongs to her, and points to a great career ahead.

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9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
promising, wan, gloss 6/10, 10 October 2005

Author: rashomon111 from Australia

I'm guessing that this website is generally pro Sommersault. Or at least the ten or so first posts that I have read. I will therefore try and be clear and dispassionate in my objections and praises for the film.

It's a lovely simple story in some respects. The opening sequence is very promising (we start with something epic and shattering -- and the cinematography here feels more restrained) but as we move into the mountain sequences there tends to be a lack of restraint in the choices made by the director/DP/art director.

For example, the overly codified red gloves, goggles -- are more reminiscent of an advertisement or a video clip than the subtlety required in rendering the poetry of this story.

There are also some other story elements that feel visually indulgent and unnecessary. For example: the shot of her diary -- when did we see this diary being used / what relevance does this have to the story or character when it feels out of keeping for a girl who is going through some kind of transgressive sexual journey. It feels more kin to a girl who is top of her class at school. We don't need to make her into an artist to care for her.

Also -- the hose scene. Perhaps it's the way they set it up, but to me it felt like an unnecessary visual gimmick -- it should have been motivated by the character.

The performances in general are really excellent.

Although I do believe that the "touch" metaphor is handled with too much force -- IE slowed down close-ups etc take the beauty away from these moments feeling organic to the character.

Politically, I question the over abundance of liminal characters (for example -- it felt terribly PC to have a middle aged gay man turn down this hot young man, as well as the indigenous family with aspergers) but despite these conceits interesting interactions still emerge. I was more curious about the Lynne Curran character -- the relationship with the girl was really unexplored and I think this 'surrogate' mother daughter relationship would have strengthened the intensity of the story and highlighted the problems she has with authority figures in general (and especially 'mother' figures vis a vis her own developing sexuality).

This film is not a classic nor is it completely awful. It is great for a first feature although more interesting as a fish out of water Australian film with extremely high production values -- than as the work of an auteur with something different to say.

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28 out of 50 people found the following review useful:
Good acting and cinematography, poor writing and directing, 20 August 2004

Author: dew-15 from Sydney

See this film to see fine young actors doing good work.

See this film to see beautiful cinematography. The credits alone are worth a look.

Unfortunately, however, these are let down by a poorly constructed script, wooden dialog, and storytelling laden with clichés. These range from gratuitous scenes -- Heidi following Joe outside, naked; Joe's gay kiss... to characters telling each other things that we should be seeing -- "You don't know what you want!" or "You're afraid to get close to someone!"... to film school visual clichés -- Heidi under the bathwater, finally bursting up for air; Heidi wandering moodily through the landscape.

By the time we were treated for the seventh time to Heidi wandering moodily through the landscape, I was ready to burst out of the theatre, gasping for air.

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18 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
Nice acting, shame about the story - or lack thereof, 2 November 2004

Author: newieboy from Australia

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.

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21 out of 37 people found the following review useful:
Somersault a sexual journey, 8 June 2005

Author: brian-940 from United States

SOMERSAULT is a well handled treatment of a young 16 year old girl's journey through the discovery of her own sexuality and how to separate love from sex through creative encounters and experimentation. It is a very even handed portrayal staying clear of any moral or cultural judgments, with delicate if not provocative undertones and undergarments. Heidi who left under a misunderstanding when she quite innocently had an affair with her mother's live in boyfriend, heads to the symbolic wilds of New South Wales where she meets several of the movies characters all involved in their own emotional development or lack there of and are destined to repeat the nightly beer bashes and multiple empty (although enjoyable) sexual encounters where this critic felt an immediate connection with their strife. Heidi's life is rapidly becoming a slow alcohol induced, sexually propelled train wreck when finally the retarded aborigine boy sagely suggests that she simply should call her mom, who comes and picks her up and all is forgiven. The character of the gay farmer served no purpose to propel the story line and in my opinion was a cheap ploy to get most movie critics who are wired that way to come see the movie. Heidi's smirk reflected in the window of her mother's car at the end of the move serves as a perfect juxtaposition to her curious look at the opening scene while removing her surrogate stepfather's pants. A masterfully balanced film that I give a five star stretchability factor to. Don't walk but run to see this movie!!

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