Revisiting the Australian Film Debut of a Marvel Director

The last time we heard from Australian director Cate Shortland was upon the release of “Black Widow” (2021), an offshoot of the Marvel Cinematic Universe dedicated to a character who was, at least initially, tangential to the Marvel Comic Universe. Natasha Romanoff was introduced to readers of “Tales of Suspense” back in 1964 as a “gorgeous new menace” for Iron Man. This Cold War villainess eventually defected to the United States, fought on the side of right, and became better known to the general public when Scarlett Johansson squeezed into a black body suit and sashayed her way into Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man 2” (2010).All of which is a roundabout way of noting that “Black Widow” is a radically different animal than Ms. Shortland’s debut feature, “Somersault” (2004). Whatever else you can say about the powers-that-be at Marvel, they have hired idiosyncratic directors whose early efforts would seem antithetical to navigating a hyperbolic world of superheroics. From all reports, Ms. Johansson had to engage in some friendly strong-arming to convince a dubious Ms. Shortland to take on the project. The auteur accepted her Marvel mission and, in the end, admitted that “just making people fly through the air and smash into things” was “pretty great.” “Somersault,” which is undergoing a revival at the Metrograph in downtown Manhattan on the occasion of a 4K restoration, is not a superhero movie nor is it a blockbuster. The picture is intimate in tone, circumscribed in its compass, and given to byways that are harsh, and kindnesses that are rare. Working from her own script, Ms. Shortland crafted a film “inhabited by scared people, who all want to be loved.” The people in “Somersault” are scared — of their obligations, their choices, their bodies and desires. But love? It’s in short supply and is invariably riven with confusion or anger. This is an ambivalent, sometimes unsettling, movie, and a deeply involving one.“Somersault” is a coming of age story whose beats are less predictable than they are universal. Specifics of locale and character provide variety and emphasis. The far reaches of Australia offer symbolic portent. The waiflike 16-year old Heidi (Abbie Cornish), a jumble of otherworldly grace and sexual bewilderment. Both offer physical beauty, inevitable complications, and a fragile sense of menace.Heidi could be a pre-Raphaelite model, a youngster whose sexuality is less a source of pleasure than a power that is hard to contain. When mom, Nicole (Olivia Peugot), discovers Heidi making romantic overtures to her current suitor, all hell breaks loose. Heidi subsequently runs away from Canberra to a region known as The Snowy Mountains. She doesn’t have much of anything at her side: a smattering of cash, a journal filled with collaged oddments, and a palpable air of desperation. The new place is cold; the people are wary.A hotelier of modest means, Irene (a seen-it-all Lynette Curran), sizes-up Heidi’s predicament, and provides the young woman with a musty flat in which to live. Irene has her own stories to tell, as does Joe (Sam Worthington), the son of a local dairy farmer who is tight-lipped, good-looking, and confused about life, love and his own inclinations. Joe and Heidi make a halting go of it with the former proving uncommunicative and the latter being needy. In the meantime, Heidi finagles a job at a convenience store, cleaning the restrooms, stocking shelves, and taking advantage of the freebies offered by management.Among the more difficult aspects to parse in Ms. Shortland’s movie is whether the vexing nature of the heroine is a function of diffuse characterization or an unsteady actress. Adolescence is a tough row to hoe, as can be the absence of a steady parent, so, perhaps, Heidi’s self-defeating equivocations are less inscrutable than true-to-life even as Ms. Cornish’s performance wavers in tone and temper. Which isn’t to fault the other performers or a director whose sense of purpose is matched by the color of her poetic flourishes. A fine effort, this movie, and thanks go to the good folks at The Metrograph for putting it back on the map.

Revisiting the Australian Film Debut of a Marvel Director

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