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Somersault

A Hopscotch release of a Red Carpet Production, in association with Film Finance Corporation, the New South Wales Film & Television Office and Showtime Australia.

Cast
Heidi Abbie Cornish
Joe Sam Worthington
Irene Lynette Curran
Richard Erik Thompson
Bianca Hollie Andrew
Adam Damian de Montemas
Nicole Olivia Pigeot
Diane Leah Purcell
Karl Blake Pittman
Stuart Nathaniel Dean
Roy Paul Gleeson
Joeâs Mother Anne-Louise Lambert
Guy Justin Martin

Crew
Cate Shortland Director/Writer
Anthony Anderson Producer
Jan Chapman Executive Producer
Robert Humphreys ACS Director of Photography
Scott Gray Editor
Melinda Dooring Production Design
Emily Seresin Costume Design
Decoder Ring Sound Design
(Sam Petty, Peter Smith
And Mark Blackwell)

Cate Shortland
Cate Shortland grew up in Canberra, ACT to a family of very traditional gender roles. Her work prior to Somersault includes,
Director Filmography: Bad Cop Bad Cop, 2002, (TV Series)
MDA, 2002, (TV Series)
The Secret Life of Us, 2001, (TV Series)
Joy, 2000
Flowergirl, 1999

Writer Filmography: Joy, 2000
Flowergirl, 1999

Robert Humphreys
Humphreys worked with Shortland on 'Joy' and 'Flower girl' and was involved in the somewhat successful 'Mullet'. His previous cinematography includes:
Wildness, 2003
Walking on Water, 2002
Mullet, 2001
Joy 2000
Flowergirl, 1999

Abbie Cornish
The work of Abbie Cornish has been the most widely and loudly hailed when it comes to the acting of Somersault and with another feature film 'Candy' coming out sometime this year where she works alongside Heath Ledger, Cornish's future career looks bright. Cornish was born in 1982 in Australia and some of her previous work includes,
Everything Goes, 2004
One Perfect Day, 2004
Marking Time, 2003 (TV Series)
Horseplay, 2003
The Monkeys Mask, 2000
More televisual work of Cornish can be found at www.imdb.com

Sam Worthington
Sam Worthington has already been involved in some excellent Australian films over the past four years such as Dirty Deeds, Gettin' Square and Thunderstruck. Worthington has a few films being released this year but the most interesting appears to be a contemporary retelling of Macbeth. The film currently in post-production called 'M' tells the story of the Melbourne ganglands and is not set for release until 2006. Worthington was born on the 2nd of August 1976 and some of his previous works include,
Director Filmography: Enzo, 2004
A short Australian film, runtime 7 mins.
Writer Filmography: Enzo, 2004
Cinematographer: Enzo, 2004
Composer: Enzo, 2004
Actor Filmography: Thunderstruck, 2004
Love My Way, 2004 (TV Series)
Gettin' Square, 2003
Dirty Deeds, 2002
Harts War, 2002
Matter of Life, 2001
Bootmen, 2000
Run Time: 105min
Sound: Dolby Digital
Camera: Fuji color

Release Dates
Opened nationally on 16th of September 2004 to a mere 20 cinemas.

Box Office
First six weeks took 1.3 million
After eight weeks took 1.59 million
Overall took 2 million
Somersault has been sold to over 20 countries.

Awards
Somersault is the first Australian film to take out every award at the AFI's, beating Lantana's record of eight awards.

AFI Awards
Best Film Anthony Anderson, Somersault
Best Direction Cate Shortland, Somersault
Best Actress Abbie Cornish, Somersault
Best Actor Sam Worthington, Somersault
Best Supporting Actress Lynette Curran, Somersault
Best Supporting Actor Erik Thompson, Somersault
Best Original Screenplay Cate Shortland, Somersault
Best Cinematography Robert Humphreys ACS, Somersault
Best Editing Scott Gray, Somersault
Best Sound Sam Petty, Peter Smith, Mark Blackwell, Somersault
Best Production Design Melinda Doring, Somersault
Best Costume Design Emily Seresin, Somersault
Best Original Music Score Decoder Ring, Somersault

Lexus IF Awards
Showtime IF Award for Best Feature Film:
Somersault, Anthony Anderson
Animal Logic IF Award for Best Direction:
Somersault, Cate Shortland
BMG IF Award for Best Music:
Somersault, Decoder Ring
Kodak IF Award for Best Cinematography:
Somersault, Robert Humphreys ACS
Mushroom Pictures IF Award for Best Script:
Somersault, Cate Shortland
In Style IF Award for Best Actress:
Somersault, Abbie Cornish

Many more Australian and International awards can be found at Somersaults official homepage:
http://www.redcarpetfilms.com.au/somersault/index.htm


Festivals
Somersault has screened at the following local and international festivals:
Brisbane Film Festival
Cannes International Film Festival, Un Certain Regard category
Edinburgh Film Festival
Melbourne Film Festival
New Zealand Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival
Tokyo Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
Vancouver Film Festival

Interviews
Finding interviews with the crew and especially the cast of this independent feature was incredibly difficult. Being a relatively new release all the interviews I did find were from online sources.
Margaret Pomeraz interviews Cate Shortland:
www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txts1188951.htm
Fenella Kernebone interviews Cate Shortland:
www.sbs.com.au/movieshow/index.php3?action=displnt&intID=254
UrbanCineFile interview with Abbie Cornish:
http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=9390&s=interviewa_archives

Reviews
Reviews of this very popular, 'artsy' movie were found en masse. Much of this material was from the internet and certainly none was to be found in published literature, due to the recent nature of the release. The majority of reviews found were very positive however there is a lot of negative feedback to be found within chat rooms and personal postings about different elements of the film.

Australian Film Commission:
www.afc.gov.au/filmsandawards/recentfilms/cannes04/feature_118.aspx
At the Movies, ABC:
www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txts1188200.htm
The Sydney Morning Herald:
www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/09/1094530752884.html
The Movie Show, SBS: (cites a standing ovation at Cannes 2004)
www.sbs.com.au/movieshow/index.php3?action=review&id=1416
UrbanCineFile:
www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=9366&s=reviews
The New York Times:
http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=307664

Journal reference:
Edwards, Russel. (2004) 'SOMERSAULT', Variety, New York, Vol.395, Iss. 4

Online Presence
The recent release of Somersault and its success on the Australian and International markets meant that the availability of online information was huge. The films presence at festivals worldwide has cast a much wider net of possible WebPages and the award winning popularity of the soundtrack by Decoder Ring also draws a lot of web attention. After viewing the DVD version of Somersault I was disappointed to find very little extra's, such as director's commentary, information of the cast or anything at all, possibly this was due to the budget of the film. Although I utilized many websites in the research for this assignment a few were particularly helpful. The MED231 website was a starting point but mainly I utilized the Google search engine. The films homepage, www.redcarpetfilms.com.au/somersault/ index.htm was useful providing links to the distributor's website, notes on the producer and all cast/crew, and also many reviews of the film. The website www.imdb.com was also very helpful. I found it difficult to find very precise box office information online and also specific release dates for Australia and overseas.

Synopsis/Review
Somersault tells the story of 15(16) year old Heidi as she develops in a classic coming of age film. Heidi, played by Abbie Cornish, is a girl with a very awakened sense of sensuality, which leads her to exploring her own sexuality and what she can do with it. After being caught with her mum's ramshackle boyfriend she flees to the snow buying a one way ticket to the town of Jindabine. After being brushed off by the one contact she had in the town, Heidi explores the use of her body as form of currency. She befriends the local motel owner Irene (Lynette Curran) and acquires an apartment before swiftly gaining employment at the local service station. Walking along the blurred line of womanhood and childhood Heidi experiences a series of ever more brutal sexual encounters, which Shortland documents with escalating frankness. Sam Worthington's character Joe spots Heidi's strikingly free nature from across the room at the local bar/club house and is entranced with this girl however preoccupied with his own journey. Heidi and Joe become intertwined in a gusty whirlwind of raw emotion, curiosity and attraction that appears to run deeper than the purely sexual. When asked 'are you a macho man?' Joe certainly does come through with the goods but withholds the boyish charm that maintains his relationships. Somersault is about people and relationships, but it is also revolved around pure unfiltered honesty and forgiveness.
Abbie Cornish beautifully embodies the feeling of isolation experienced by Heidi which is portrayed many times throughout the film by Heidi looking through things. From the moment she boards the bus to Jindabyne she is alone although surrounded by people her own age. There are many shots where we see Heidi through a glass window, then see her point of view always looking at others from her side of the dirty glass wall, blue filtered bus window, car windscreen or rosy red snow goggles.

The success of Somersault in Australia and its popularity internationally as an Australian film implies a shift in audience expectation. Drama's such as Lantana and Somersault have proven that the Australian market is becoming more interested in serious films. The critical response to these movies suggests that Australian film prospects are slowly looking up with filmmaker's gaining more recognition, respect and demand for their work. However the popularity of the Aussie larrikin and interest in Australian comedies is still by and large the strong point of national cinema. As observed by the huge success of Dirty Deeds, Gettin' Square and The Castle comedies tend to draw a larger audience than any other type of Australian film.
Somersault is widely described as a drama but the film is also very much a coming of age piece and possibly also a woman's film. The film has too much attention placed on the adult characters and themes to be described as a teenpic even though the two most central characters are teenagers and scenes are set in the snow season/party season. The soundtrack dips into popular teen music but mainly stays well away from any commercially popular or well known anthems found in typical teen movies. The film walks the line between teenager and adult and all the blurry parts in-between making it by and large the journey of a coming of age film. Written and directed by a woman, with a woman at the centre of the film dealing with her problems, Somersault could also lean towards the 'woman's film' genre.

Personal comment
For me this film was very touching but above all it was the films beauty that draws me to it. In a film review found at www.realtimearts.net Cate Shortland is quoted as saying, 'what I really love is beautiful things', and I think this is what stood out most to me during the film. The script holds such uncomfortable honesty but it is this engaging with the breathtaking music score and cinematography that just comes together and hits you like fireworks. Possibly Somersault could be classified as a woman's film and I was able to relate very well to the characters but I would place it more so as a coming of age drama. Robert Humphrey's use of the handheld camera and the icy blue/bright red color stood out significantly throughout the film. This style of cinematography paired with character building scenes such as Heidi drinking gracefully from a water fountain or Heidi watching dry leaves get blown about in an abandoned empty swimming pool, (very metaphoric of her current situation, and the leaves create a very 'American Beauty' inspired moment) Humphreys style fits superbly with Shortland's work. This is possibly because they have worked together on previous occasions, i.e. Joy (2000) and Flowergirl (1999).

A good soundtrack can really add to a movie's momentum and interest, and can often 'make' the movie. The work of Sydney's Decoder Ring for Somersault was superb, capturing the essence, and emotion of the film. With tracks like 'Music Box', 'Snowflake', 'Rough Sex' and the chilling, 'Somersault', the soundtrack has become a commercial success. The constant meandering soundscapes throughout the film created a whole new richness to Somersault. The haunting musical score provided by Decoder Ring mixed with Spiderbaits, 'Shazam!' the Karma County performance of 'The New Emperor or Sad' and the Alvin Stardust classic 'My Coo-Ca Choo' among others made for a killer soundtrack.
This film comes together so beautifully. The work of Cate Shortland, Robert Humphreys and Decoder Ring create a base for a most strikingly beautiful movie, and with actors like Abbie Cornish, Sam Worthington, Lynette Curran and Erik Thompson they are able to pull it off. I would rate the film four and a half stars.



Critical Uptake
The critic's response to Cate Shortland's Somersault was varied, as you would expect but largely very positive and encouraging of all the parties involved in the making of the film. Although much praise has been lavished among the actors with awards won in particular Abbie Cornish who was, 'heralded as the major discovery of the Cannes Film Festival' (www.newcastlemafia.com). The crew of Somersault have also been praised and awarded for their work by critics worldwide and the film has been successful in all its releases so far. However the most obvious and frequent negative criticism appears to be with Shortland's script, many reviews have questioned the need for many self indulgent type scenes that do nothing to drive the plot, but these could also be said to be character building. Somersault has been described as a feature length short, that runs out of gusto half-way through, 'many of the films latter scenes feel more like 'padding' than story', (www.theblurb.com.au/Issue45/Somersault.htm). Some have described the hand-held camera work used for the entire feature, and editing techniques, as too 'artsy' and distracting. The script for Somersault was seven years in the making with the main characters based on a mixture of Shortland's acquaintances. Cate and producer Anthony Anderson applied for the newly erected Aurora Script Development Scheme funded by the NSW Film and TV Office, to fine tune their script. Over the six month period Shortland and Anderson worked with the group at Aurora and the script was changed considerably in this time.

As the first feature film to emerge from the program much interest was generated as to what the outcome of this movie might be. The actors were engaged in comprehensive character building prior to filming and Sam Worthington spent some time living on a farm to get a genuine feel for his character Joe. The fact that the film was handpicked to be shown at Cannes and then the encouraging reaction received after screening started really feeding the hype being created in Australia prior to the films national release. The film was also screening nationally at a time where their was little Australian competition in the market, the other notable release of relatively similar timing was Tom White (Alkinos Tsilimidos), released on the nineteenth of August 2004 approximately one month before Somersault. Also an Australian drama Tom White grossed only $131 000 compared to Somersaults two million so proved to be little competition. All of these factors combined helped Somersaults commercial success, which for a film shown at only twenty cinemas nationwide was brilliant, 'the per-theatre average earnings of (the) very low budget Australian feature Somersault exceeded that of some Hollywood mega-productions', (www.afc.gov.au).


References
All websites accessed between 12 April ö 26 April 2005
http://online.murdoch.edu.au/MED231s1/index.html
www.imdb.com
www.urbancinefile.com
www.redcarpetfilms.com.au
www.sensesofcinema.com
www.afc.gov.au