DVD Review: Somersault

By April MacIntyre Jul 19, 2006, 16:48 GMT

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

Though the film has many flaws in the thin character development and plot, "Somersault" should still be recognized as an important Australian picture. With the enormous talent pool that exists there, we need to see more films from down under.  Sam Worthington's performance as Joe stands out.

Spoiler alert:

Somersault - an oddly named title for this release - centers on young Heidi, a naïve teenage girl living with her irresponsible mother, with no trace of any father figure.  Heidi's detachment from the realities of life and inappropriate behavior have her leaving home too soon, landing her destitute in a mountain resort and involved in many dispassionate trysts.

In the action that sets the motion for the film, Heidi full-on seduces her mother's boyfriend.  This was no accident.  Mother comes home early and catches Heidi in full body kissing with the boyfriend.   Mother loses it, and breaks with her, setting Heidi off to run away.

Ultimately, Heidi returns back home to the same mother who never raised her properly to be a smart, young woman with self-esteem.  The title of this film should have been Boomerang.

The opening scenes show Heidi fetching her mother from some stranger she is sitting with in a bar, during which mother's passive boyfriend sits mutely in the car.  It becomes clear immediately that Heidi has been exposed to a lifestyle that is less than correct.

Abbie Cornish, the beautiful, though not very expressive actress that plays Heidi, does a convincing job of Heidi's obliviousness to sexual politics and her wakening powers over men, or reality for that matter.  She dream walks through her life; her only possession having any meaning is an oddly assembled sentimental scrapbook that never gives us a clue to the pathos of Heidi whatsoever.

Bad decision after bad decision, Heidi lands in a mountain resort town, Jindabyne, where the rich Aussies ski and live the party Alpine life.  She hasn't a clue on how to conduct or be protective of herself in mixed company, winding up at the local watering hole, subsequently being taken home by a stranger, the first boring, paint-by-numbers one night stand.

This is a girl with issues, and not a great wit either, what it stems from we are never given a clue. Her biological father is never mentioned nor seen.   Her lack of moxie and abundance of youthful beauty are a lethal mix.  Like a child playing with a loaded gun, she unwittingly presents a real danger to herself.  

Cate Shortland, the writer and director of this film, tries to paint us a bleak coming-of-age tale of 16 year old Heidi.   Ostensibly, it is all a learning curve as she carelessly couples with men who care not a whit for her, except perhaps one.  Joe.  

Actor Sam Worthington plays Joe, a stoic, in denial of any emotions or true feeling, melancholy about his future in the claustrophobic enclave of Jindabyne.  Depressed Joe doesn't know his own true heart.

Joe is a young farmer, an alcoholic, and not really sure if he is straight or gay.   He notices Heidi in one bar scene, but never acts.  Chance has them meet again in daylight, and in sex scenes that have about as much passion as shearing sheep, they have their first of a series of tepid couplings, which get only slightly more passionate as Joe loosens up a bit.

Inarticulate Heidi tries to express her feelings to man-of-few words, Joe.  This goes over about as well you can imagine.  Like kryptonite, the idea of expressing his true feelings to Heidi or anyone makes Joe run for the local kindly gay neighbor - who exercises enormous restraint - and is wise enough to see Joe hasn't a clue about who he is, or what he wants.  

Squaring a place to live temporarily, and landing a job at the local BP convenience store, Heidi almost makes a friend with Bianca, who it turns out her mother's boyfriend is one of the men Heidi inappropriately hits on for a job.   His character menacingly tells Heidi on a drive home to stay clear of Bianca, that they're not the same kind of girls.

Heidi wants so much to be loved, to be in someone's heart.  But love is ruled by those who are smart enough to know its elusive shell game, the rules that escape Heidi at each turn.  She wants desperately for Joe to love her, but he is so far removed from himself, he can't even fake it.

There is a lot of gimmickry in the film. The cinematography is reminiscent of rock video lensing, jerky motion, lots of colorized, bleached out scenes intermixed, blue-grey filters with hyper colorized red visuals in Heidi's gloves and Bianca's ausperger-afflicted kid brother's sweater.  The editing, like the camera work, is choppy.  The beautiful locations were done a disservice by this fact.

If you want to see a similar character study involving a beautiful young girl alone and adrift, trying to come of age, a film worth watching is 1993's Ruby in Paradise starring a young Ashley Judd.  

Somersault is now available for pre-order at Amazon for a July 25th release. It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for an August 8th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.