Review of "Somersault"

Somersault (2004) is an award winning Australian film directed by Cate Shortland. I became curious about it after I saw the impassioned performances by Sam Worthington in Terminator Salvation and Avatar. This film knocked my socks off and Abbie Cornish and Worthington are nothing short of brilliant. Somersault is Shortland’s feature debut as a director and she is remarkably subtle, patient and gentle with the weighty subject matter. The themes in the film deal with solitude, abandonment, growth, sexuality and the pain in and out of relationships. The film is about a young girl named Heidi (Abbie Cornish) who learns the difficult lessons that navigate the roads between love and sex. Cornish portrays Heidi’s fragility, innocence and torment with such quiet finesse it is easy to see why she was awarded Best Actress by the Australian Film Institute in 2004. Worthington also won Best Actor for his portrayal of Joe, the son of a wealthy farm owner whose confusion about where he belongs and desperation in the face of the obligation he feels for his family lead him to a bland, lonely existence. That is, until he meets Heidi who shows him that he is capable of loving, even for just a short time. The sound design, color scheme, costuming, especially the patient rhythm which Shortland wields, are thought provoking and inspirational. This film is a thinkers film and I recommend it to anyone who has a heartbeat. This film showed me that the courage to be vulnerable and the moments that bring us close are worth the pain that we go through to get there. More importantly, these are the moments that teach us what love is and are worth more than the invalidating opinions of the outside world. Do yourself a favor, and see this film.