Somersault (2004)

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

Director:

Cate Shortland

Writer:

Cate Shortland

Stars:

Abbie Cornish, Damian de Montemas, Sam Worthington

40 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

Coming of age: Heidi, 15, runs away from home after her mom sees her kissing mom's boyfriend. She goes to a Snowy River resort where a vague job offer doesn't pan out. She manages to find a place to live and a job at a convenience store. She's between childhood -- nursery rimes and a scrapbook of glittery unicorns - and adulthood - working, sorting out emotions and sexuality, and dealing with social slights and false charges of bad behavior. She's attractive and her loneliness makes her vulnerable. She sleeps with Joe, the son of local ranchers, and she awakens in him feelings he can't express. Is there any way she can put off adulthood and be a kid awhile longer?

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Plot Keywords:

store | coming of age | convenience store | unicorn | love | 

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Taglines:

Love can turn you upside down.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany]

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 2004 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Cigánykerék

Filming Locations:

Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$21,566 (USA) (21 April 2006)

Gross:

$91,894 (USA) (23 June 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Red Carpet Productions, Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), Fortissimo Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 99 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was originally going to be filmed predominantly in and around Canberra and nearby Lake George, but the ongoing drought on Australia's eastern seaboard meant that the lake was totally dry. Being that a body of water is a focal point for the film, the setting was changed to Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains, where the drought's effects were not as severe.

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Goofs

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

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: 25 Years of Margaret & David (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Shazam!"
Written by Spiderbait
Performed by Spiderbait
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Licensed courtesy of Universal Music Australia

User Reviews

Over-rated and pretentious disaster

I find that some films, when I watch them, I don't appreciate them so much, but then afterwards I think about them more and more and realise I really liked them and have to watch it again sometime. With other films I think they're all right at the time, but afterwards I realise what a load of b*llocks they are. I'm sorry to say that "Somersault" belongs in the second category.

The story wasn't at all interesting. It was about a 16-year-old girl who sort of ran away from home, sort of was kicked out, after trying to start a fling with her mother's boyfriend. She goes to Jindabyne, in the mountains, and tries to start a whole lot more flings. And that's about it. We see this teenager have sex with a whole lot of people, and think she's falling in love, and eventually p*ss everyone off, including the audience.

For a start the film had an incredibly amateurish quality. Something about the direction and the cinematography reminded me of the sort of film high school students make - showing close-ups of hands touching things, different coloured lens filters...it seemed pretty weak. The acting wasn't very special, but I did get the feeling that the cast were mostly good actors and that they would go on to have more success in other works (this is coming true for Abbie Cornish). The soundtrack also became repetitive and irritating after a while.

So with a boring storyline, amateurish direction and mediocre acting, there wasn't much left in the film. The lead character was so hard to watch as she was stupid and naive. Even the supposedly nicer characters were all horrid.

I have no idea why this film did so well in Australia but I suppose it's simply because there were very few other films, let alone any good films, released that same year, and everyone is desperate to seek out new Australian talent. I enjoyed seeing Australia on the big screen like that, and parts of it looked very beautiful, but using beautiful landscapes doesn't mean you're a good director. Maybe with a better story this film would have been nicer but I think it was an over-rated and pretentious disaster.