Somersault
April 21st 2008 09:18
After an incident with her mother’s boyfriend, 16 year old Heidi leaves her home and soon arrives in the Australian snowfield town of Jindabyne, alone with no money and nothing but the power of her budding sexuality. From this very dangerous and desperate place Heidi soon finds Joe, a wealthy landowners son, 10 years her senior, with whom she commences a precarious relationship.
With our eyes and ears, through some kind of miracle of sensory association, we not only see and hear, but taste, touch and smell the world Heidi inhabits. The distinct visual style of cinematographer, Bob Humphries and director, Kate Shortland, heavily derived from pop culture magazine aesthetics, is compelling and blends beautifully with a mesmerizing sound scape from Sydney electronic band, Decoder Ring. Themes of sexual politics, identity, isolation and connection are explored as Heidi (played beautifully by Abby Cornish), with a kind of transient teen emotional retardation (or mild autism), tries to connect with Joe and the world around her. Trapped in his two dimensional, Aussie macho exterior Joe (played with depth by Sam Worthington) is also trying to connect as the faltering attempts at intimacy play out between them. Emotionally complex with a tight, believable script and some strong supporting performances, Somersault is probably the best Australian art house movies in years.
With our eyes and ears, through some kind of miracle of sensory association, we not only see and hear, but taste, touch and smell the world Heidi inhabits. The distinct visual style of cinematographer, Bob Humphries and director, Kate Shortland, heavily derived from pop culture magazine aesthetics, is compelling and blends beautifully with a mesmerizing sound scape from Sydney electronic band, Decoder Ring. Themes of sexual politics, identity, isolation and connection are explored as Heidi (played beautifully by Abby Cornish), with a kind of transient teen emotional retardation (or mild autism), tries to connect with Joe and the world around her. Trapped in his two dimensional, Aussie macho exterior Joe (played with depth by Sam Worthington) is also trying to connect as the faltering attempts at intimacy play out between them. Emotionally complex with a tight, believable script and some strong supporting performances, Somersault is probably the best Australian art house movies in years.
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