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Absolutely Fantastic

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Blistering performances.

I think this film talks about many things without saying that much.The elegance and equilibrium between sound and silence makes it sweet and realistic, with a touch of poetry in the story telling.The story, through the character of a young girl who is learning about life itself, talks about human relationships and how difficult we human beings get to connect with other people.The way is told makes it so realistic that is unfair to compete with any other story that can look similar, because it would win.Important to mention the very fine acting, which could not be other way since the whole film has been managed with delicacy and precision.Smart and beautiful. Not a love story, not another stupid empty drama story. Not a great film, but a film you wouldn't regret, because there's no mediocrity in it.

Somersault would have to be one of the most feminine films I can remember viewing and a refreshing change from all the plot and logic heavy films that seem to dominate the cinema. Abbie Cornish and the director Cate Shortland have created a wonderful and sympathetic, if not a little frustrating character in Heidi, and watching her naive and romantic meanderings was an emotional treat.All the technical elements worked for me but in particular the score by Decoder Ring as it played within the emotional mood with a perfect harmony. Anyone who would like to spend some time inside the mind and mood of a confused and volatile young woman should take a look at this simple but beautiful film.

Not a bad film, an unpretentious leisurely examination of just how tough it is to find someone able to show you love -- in case we didn't already know. If Heidi, Abbie Cornish, a toothsome teen ager, so gloriously blond that even her eyebrows seem bleached, has such trouble, the rest of us must have gone through absolute hell. She's sweet, shy, submissive, and aching to be touched.How she manages to run into so many male nincompoops is hard to understand -- a lecherous Mom's boyfriend, a guy who's worried he might be gay, two rich kids who pick her up drunk and take her home for a threesome, the father of a tentative girl friend who lies in order to dishonor her. A regular line-up of losers. Any normal man would immediately comply when she begs to have her hand held, cuddle her like a tiny gerbil, then squeeze and bite her and have done with it.It isn't impossible for men to follow this movie, given that the male viewers are of normal character. It's that men are less interested than woman, and perhaps a little embarrassed, by films whose interpretations depend on emotional nuances. Men tend to ask themselves questions like, "What would John Wayne do?" However, it's an interesting effort, this minor film about a lonely, narcissistic young girl. "Narcissistic" in the Freudian sense of needing to be loved, not in the everyday sense of self-loving. The performances are fine, and the blue photography takes us out of the urban setting and away from the more common outback into a cold and snowy universe that most non-Australians are likely to be unfamiliar with. It also provides us with a glimpse into the lower-prole life of those who are barely making it in this setting, the people who drive rusted pickup trucks and live in shabby motel rooms and gurgle beer.It might have used a bit of humor, something to relieve the heavy volume of dreariness. Nobody ever seems happy or amused. At best, Heidi shows hope, which -- twice -- is dashed.However, a somersault is when you fall forward, roll over, and wind up standing erect, and that, basically, is the trajectory of the plot. Heidi takes off from home with a backpack, victimized, falls in with flawed company, and is rescued by a forgiving mother at the end. Heidi may or may not have learned anything from this escapade but perhaps her mother has.

A beautifully filmed story, the two film comparisons that come to mind are The Virgin Suicides and Morvern Callar. All of these films feature young girls, coping with circumstances that throw them into a spiral - an internal spiral - filmed with grace, attention to detail and a good ear for the soundtrack. There are difficult moments here, where I found myself saying 'Don't do it, don't do it', but she does because inexperience and lack of confidence make for poor choices. As soon as you can place yourself in her shoes, you will find this film moving, and very clearly (and poetically) observed. I recommend this film very highly, both for its clean and original voice - and very Australian voice - and the sympathy we feel for its very real lead characters.