Final Rating: 3/5
Cinema is an industry that shifts quickly. Your reputation and career status depend on a film. In the modern era, impressive debuts and breakthroughs can establish you as a respected figure within the filmmaking business, helping you to make your next feature. Therefore, each year, in the hundreds of international film festivals, there is always that one first film that impresses critics and audiences.
In 2004, the Australian director Cate Shortland premiered her directorial debut, Somersault. The film was selected at that year’s Cannes Film Festival, in the Un Certain Regard section, the second most important slate of the event, under the main competition.
Two decades later, the film has gotten a re-release of its 4K restoration. Picolo Films restored it from its 35mm original master negatives under the consultation of the director, Cate Shortland, and the cinematographer, Robert Humphreys.
Somersault narrates the story of Heidi (Abbie Cornish), a young woman who lives with her mother and her mom’s boyfriend. During the day, Heidi makes a sexual advance upon the mom’s partner, and her mother witnesses their affair. The teenager runs away from home in Canberra to encounter a man who once offered help in the Snowy Mountains in southern New South Wales. However, he denies her help, and Heidi must find her luck in a tourist town that does not provide opportunities for its inhabitants.
Cate Shortland crafts a tale of a girl in distress. After betraying her mother, she chooses disappearance as a form of dealing with that situation. At the same time, alcohol and sex with strangers she meets in a bar become an alternative lifestyle while she is fleeing home. Visually, the 35mm cinematography imprints a fascinating texture that alludes to the confusion in Heidi’s journey. Her daily life is blurry, unclear, and the tones of blue create a metaphor for the inner sadness she feels.
Robert Humphreys provides the realism the director seeks, utilizing a multitude of close-ups and medium shots to bring the audience to the suffering of that character; even in moments of leisure or her sexual experiences, the audience is near; the camera is likely in the bed with her. Hence, the camera captures Cornish as the central figure, composing the frames around her, who is the narrative thread of this tale.
The film is a coming-of-age story about an unsure girl. When she falls in love with Joe (Sam Worthington), the confusion increases. Similar to her, despite their age gap, Joe is attempting to find his place in the world. He does not have a job, attends pubs every night, and drinks constantly.
In Shortland’s fable, two messy individuals attract each other, pulling gravitational forces exactly like a magnet. Therefore, the dynamic proposed by the director requires actors able to control their emotions while expressing their frustrations. While Cornish peaks in this work, compared to her subsequent productions, such as Bright Star, Robocop, and Sucker Punch, to cite a few.
Otherwise, Worthington in his Australian outbreak already showcased her limitations as an actor, delivering a flat line for a character who should be emotionally ambiguous. The results are vectors that cross different directions. Cornish delivers a powerful performance in her early career, while her male co-star’s work is mediocre.
Thus, Somersault is the odyssey of someone seeking to belong and affection. In her debut, Cate Shortland attempts to create a tale of the hardships of a naive girl, but it is overlong in its development, and Worthington’s performance diminishes the impact of their scenes. Still, contrary to her future career, Abbie Cornish demonstrates her talent through emotionally raw work that anchors this coming-of-age.
Thank you Film Movement and Foundry Communications for the screener.
