Dir. Cate Shortland, 2004, Australia, 106 mins
Cast:
Abbie Cornish, Sam Worthington, Lynette Curran, Erik Thomson
This is a tale of beauty in the weeds from an Australia not often seen on this side of the planet: one of petrol stations and long-faded motels; a working Australia that isn't defined by racism, bigotry or sexism - though these all make appearances - but is about the journey of Heidi (Abbie Cornish) to and through an out-of-season ski town.
Having been found in bed with her mother's boyfriend, teenager Heidi flees and finds her way to the downbeat New South Wales town that is the film's setting. When her faint hope of a job fails it seems we might be about to be shown the error of Heidi's ways, but she finds a place to live and a job to do, as well as some local boys and men to do.
One of the film's strengths is the way in which it gently turns expectations into unexpected outcomes. Heidi's saviour from a nasty sexual incident is Joe (Sam Worthington), but he in turn is no knight in armour. Nevertheless, his kindness and directness are good foils for Heidi and they become a couple for while. She and Joe are two young people with much progress to make, and Somersault charts their journeys, mainly Heidi's.
That story in itself is sometimes none too credible: local people are much more suspicious about what Heidi is doing once in their town than how she appeared there; every other character is subservient to Heidi's story and some are slightly crude sketches. But the joy of the film is the way these objections melt in light of its atmosphere, its cinematography, its potency in capturing the hope of a great night in the pub or a loveless sexual encounter. Heidi's buoyancy, lack of wisdom, inquisitiveness and silence are well written and excellently played by Cornish. Worthington is also very strong as Joe, though the limitations in the writing of his part, its subservience to Heidi's, limit his range as an actor here.
Though the plot may not exactly fit one's life story, it is made of stuff common to all. Yet that stuff doesn't seem obvious; contradictions are allowed their own existence within the film; its beauty and the strength of performances it contains appeal because they have integrity, rather than because they are designed to appeal; the lack of moralising, direct or indirect, about young peoples' sexuality and particularly a young woman's sexuality is refreshing. These are the tributes Somersault gathers to Cate Shortland and her collaborators on making a fine first - and hopefully not last - feature.
Richard Dilks |
