Somersault [2004] [DVD]

This is an eminently watchable tale of lost souls looking for a sense of belonging, with towering performances from Abbie Cornish as the fragile and feckless Heidi and Sam Worthington as the directionless Joe.

We first meet Heidi as she commits the seemingly unforgiveable sin of coming on to her mother's boyfriend. Cast out of home, she heads to the ski resort of Jindabyne on the premise that a casual acquaintance once invited her there. Rejected by him, penniless and homeless, the resourceful Heidi learns to sleep with vacationing boys just to get a bed for the night.

The story then follows her struggle for acceptance in a closed community - she finds work and accommodation and meets the emotionally distant Joe, the central relationship of the film.

The cinematography is stunning (if at times a little cliched), with crisp wintry images interspersed with snippets of warmth to mirror the themes of the film.

To pigeon-hole this as a coming of age drama would be to miss the point. Ultimately it is a story about love and forgiveness and is equally applicable to any viewer, be they 18 or 80. Not to be missed!

Light, impressionistic and ethereal, the Australian film Somersault steadily grows on the viewer. Very much reminiscent of this maverick and new wave genre of Australian movie making, in Somersault meaning comes from the very modest and a lot happens when very little is being said. It's where a teenage girl sets off on a sexual and moral coming-of-age odyssey that resonates with remarkable truth and purity.

The lovely sixteen-yea-old Heidi (Abbie Cornish) is a bit of a femme fatale. She knows men are attracted to her and she realizes pretty early on that she can probably get whatever she wants from them. After getting caught making out with her Mum's hunky young boyfriend, this lonely and wraithlike girl drifts up to Jindabyne in the Australian Alps of New South Wales.

Constantly yearning for male attention, her striking blond looks make her an easy target for the horny, vacationing boys - they don't hesitate to take advantage of her. She's also a bit of a party girl and thinks nothing of getting drunk and stoned at the local hangouts. As she tries to find employment - she eventually gets a job working the counter in a service station - she catches the eye of Joe (a terrific Sam Worthington), the son of wealthy landowners.

Joe is handsome and likeable enough, although he's very uptight and remains non-committal. At first, he appears to be in it for thrill of sleeping with an underage girl, but his initial hesitancy masks a deep-seated self-loathing, and certain confusion over his sexuality. As much as Heidi needs him, Joe's just too insecure to return her feelings.

Of course, this is a world of entrenched snobbery where the sons and daughters of the wealthy landowners look down on working class girls like Heidi. At only sixteen Heidi gradually discovers that her slutty behavior and limited employment prospects condemn her to the bottom rungs of this picturesque Jindabyne's social ladder. Even the maternal motel owner Irene (a fabulous Lynette Curran) who takes Heidi under her wing, has her patience tried by the unruly and irresponsible girl.

Somersault with its arty, indistinct photography and it's otherworldly atmosphere, is very much a portrait of two troubled souls searching for love and respect, but director Cate Shortland is talented enough to show that there isn't an easy way out for this couple. As Heidi drifts through life, keeping a diary and looking at the world almost through a childlike sensibility, Shortland is totally adept at delicately capturing Heidi's lovelorn world.

Alternating between glacial, pastel landscapes and burnt-ochre interiors, Summersault is a disturbing portrait of a young girl somewhat at a loss and Cornish's astonishingly empathic performance always stays directly connected to Heidi's troubled soul. Her desire actually seems to protect her from the consequences of some very dire situations. Worthington is also terrific as Joe, with his need to connect with Heidi and his somewhat opaque sexual ambivalence constantly keeping us guessing.

Summersault is an accomplished film, another gritty and edgy slice of Australian life - although the film is at times brutal to watch. Heidi's very presence in this small resort town often seems to make adults uncomfortable and boys cruel. The sense that there is nothing Heidi can do to escape her looks, class and circumstances. Mike Leonard July 06.

Heidi is a sixteen year old girl who runs away from home after being caught in bed with her mother's boyfriend. On the promise of a job she heads to the snowy mountain town of Jindabyne, New South Wales, though when she arrives she finds the job has fallen through and resorts to hanging out in bars with tourists with who she can spend the night.
After a finding a place to live and with a job at a local gas station she begins a tentative relationship with Joe, the son of a local farmer, who himself is battling his own personal issues.
Somersault is essentially a coming of age drama about a young girl who uses her sexuality as a way of seeking out the love and attention which has been absent from her family life. This is a beautifully directed film with great cinematography, an excellent musical score and a stellar performance from Abbie Cornish.
It's a real shame that this film didn't launch writer and director Cate Shortland onto bigger and better things, as she now seems to have settled for directing run of the mill TV crime dramas. Hopefully one day she'll make another film as Somersault is an unusually tender and poetic example of Australian cinema.