[REEL_REVIEWER]

Mon., Feb. 21, 2005, 6:39pm PT

War 'Hero' will open New Directors fest
'Murderball,' 'Junebug' also tapped for fest

By IAN MOHR

First-time helmer Zeze Gamboa's "The Hero" has been tapped to open the Film Society of Lincoln Center and MoMA's New Directors/New Films lineup March 23.

Angola/Portugal/France co-production, which took the World Cinema dramatic jury prize at Sundance, centers on the aftermath of the civil war in Angola.
Fest runs through April 3.

A spate of additional Sundance films will have their day in the sun in Gotham, as the fest has also tapped Jeff Feuerzeig's documentary "The Devil and Daniel Johnston," Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro's docu "Murderball" (ThinkFilm) and Phil Morrison's "Junebug" (Sony Pictures Classics).

"Devil," "Murderball" and "Junebug" are some of just a handful of American films admitted to the fest this year. A U.S./Cuba co-production, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's "Young Rebels" also made the cut.

Another docu that will be highlighted is Hubert Sauper's "Darwin's Nightmare," a film about globalization as reflected in a Tanzanian eco-disaster.

France will have a strong showing of new voices at the fest. Gallic pics unspooling include Robin Campillo's "They Came Back," Abdelatif Kechiche's "L'Esquive" (New Yorker Films) and Ismael Ferroukhi's "Le Grand Voyage" (Film Movement).

Further pics with distribution in place include Matteo Garrone's "Primo Amore" (Strand), Saverio Costanzo's "Private" (Avatar), Eleonore Faucher's "Sequins" (New Yorker), Cate Shortland's "Somersault" (Magnolia) and Nimrod Antal's"Kontroll" (ThinkFilm).

[REEL_REVIEWER]

Somersault
Rising Aussie starlet Abbie Cornish revisits her teen years (she's actually 22), but manages to convince as a runaway 16 yr. old gone wild!

3 stars [(2004)Australia/2005 USA release/ Magnolia Pictures] - (1 hr. 46 min.)

Written & directed by Cate Shortland

Lead characters/Cast
Heidi - Abbie Cornish
Joe - Sam Worthington



Supporting characters/Cast
Irene (the landlady) - Lynette Curran
Richard - Erik Thomson
Bianca (the co-worker) - Hollie Andrew
Diane - Leah Purcell
Nicole (the mother) - Olivia Pigeot
Karl - Blake Pittman

Review:

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, Australia's gone and cloned Nicole Kidman ... (just kidding). But jokes aside, newcomer Abbie Cornish does bear a remarkable physical resemblance as well as almost as much raw talent.

Director Cate Shortland has given the young beauty a meaty role in 'Heidi', a teenaged runaway who is rapidly learning the power her natural good looks has on the opposite sex. Her carefree attitude also allows her to take comfort with almost any man that lays his eyes on her (even her mother's boyfriend).

When Mom catches her, the frightened Heidi hightails it to the hinterlands - aka Jindabyne, a remote mountain resort. The one and only bar in town has plenty of single tourists looking for fun and Heidi works through her first (of several) one-night stands.

When she does meet the right guy for her he decides that she might not be right for him (huh?). Well, it is a movie, and unfortunately for Heidi, the perfect man she's chosen is still working through his own sexual issues. The on-again off-again romance and consistent avoidance in a small town eventually drives the lovely Heidi into the arms of two men at once (oh to be young and foolish again - lol).

Impressive debut that will score higher points with the chickflick crowd than any other, but if you want to see the gal that could easily score all the roles Nicole Kidman is too old to play (as if those roles even exist?). Well, all kidding asise, here's your chance to watch how a 'star' is born. And it certainly marks a long-awaited return of Australian cinema to America (and Cate Shortland didn't even have to show a crocodile.

New Directors/New Films Festival synopsis:
Heidi (the gorgeous Abbie Cornish) is a sixteen-year-old Australian girl whose reckless sexuality gets her into trouble at home. Caught in a compromising situation by her mother, she takes to the road. In the snowy ski town of Lake Jindabyne, she meets Joe (Sam Worthington), a handsome farm owner's son to whom she is instantly attracted. For one thing, he is not an easy conquest; reserved and withholding, he flirts but keeps his distance. As their tenuous relationship deepens, it grows more conflicted, exposing their mutual insecurities and leading to near-disaster for both. Heidi often manipulative and scarily impulsive has the makings of a good person and in this evocative first feature by Cate Shortland her character is put to the test.

[REEL_REVIEWER]

The coach that Heidi boards to take her to Jindabyne is shown to depart from the Belconnen bus interchange in North Canberra (there is a bit of artistic license at work here as the Belconnen interchange only deals with Canberra's internal bus service).
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Made a clean sweep of the Australian Film Institute awards in 2004 to win in all 13 film categories - the first time this has ever occurred in the award's history. It beat the previous record of eight AFI awards shared by 'Lantana' and 'Newsfront'.
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Was originally going to be filmed predominantly in and around Canberra and nearby Lake George, but the ongoing drought on Australia's eastern seaboard meant that the lake was totally dry. Being that a body of water is a focal point for the film, the setting was changed to Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains, where the drought's effects were not as severe.
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Took 7 years to make.

[REEL_REVIEWER]

NOW PLAYING in the USA

April 28, 2006

• Laemmle's One Colorado Cinemas (Old Pasadena,CA)
• Laemmle Music Hall (Beverly Hills,CA)

HELD OVER

Lincoln Plaza Cinemas (New York,NY)
<LI>Landmark Sunshine Cinema (New York,NY)

[REEL_REVIEWER]

German? website w/ TRAILER (danke! )

[REEL_REVIEWER]

Long Tan (2006) - Sgt Bob Buick
M. (2006) - Macbeth
Fink! (2005) - Able
The Great Raid (2005) - PFC Lucas
Love My Way (2004 TV series) - Howard Light
Somersault (2004) - Joe
Thunderstruck (2004) - Ronnie
Gettin' Square (2003) - Barry Wirth
Dirty Deeds (2002) - Darcy
Hart's War (2002) - Cpl. B.J. 'Depot' Guidry
Matter of Life (2001 short) - Our Hero
Bootmen (2000) - Mitchell

Sam Worthington (w/ Abbie Cornish)

[REEL_REVIEWER]

Candy (2005) - Candy
Everything Goes (2004 short) - Brianie
Somersault (2004) - Heidi
One Perfect Day (2004) - Emma Matisse
Marking Time (2003 TV movie) - Tracey
Horseplay (2003) - Becky Wodinski
Life Support (2001 TV series) - Penne (2001)
Outriders (2001 TV series) - Reggie McDowell
The Monkey's Mask (2000) - Mickey Norris
Close Contact (1999 TV movie) - Sara Boyack
Wildside (1997 TV series) - Simone Summers


Abbie Cornish at the Toronto International Film Fest

[REEL_REVIEWER]

The Silence (2006 TV series short)

Somersault (2004)

Bad Cop, Bad Cop (2002 TV series) - (4 episodes)

MDA (2002 TV series)

The Secret Life of Us (2001 TV series)

Joy (2000 short)

Flowergirl (1999 short)


Watch Margaret Pomeranz interview Cate Shortland (Requires RealPlayer):

• Hifi video
• Lofi video

[REEL_REVIEWER]

SOMERSAULT

Opens on Friday, April 21 at Landmark's Sunshine Cinema

SOMERSAULT, the internationally acclaimed feature debut by Cate Shortland. Featuring a mesmerizing, star-making performance by Abbie Cornish (soon to be seen opposite Heath Ledger in CANDY), SOMERSAULT is the story of a beautiful young woman’s sensory journey of self-discovery. Selected for the Cannes, Edinburgh, Toronto, and New Directors/New Films festivals, SOMERSAULT won a record 13 Australian Film Institute awards (including Best Picture and Best Actress), and will open in New York on Friday, April 21 at Landmark's Sunshine Cinema, followed by a national roll-out.

Heidi (Cornish) is a sixteen-year-old Australian girl whose reckless sexuality gets her into trouble at home. Caught in a compromising situation by her mother, she takes to the road. In the snowy ski town of Lake Jindabyne, she meets Joe (Sam Worthington), a handsome farm owner’s son to whom she is instantly attracted. For one thing, he is not an easy conquest; reserved and withholding, he flirts but keeps his distance. As their tenuous relationship deepens, it grows more conflicted, exposing their mutual insecurities and leading to near-disaster for both. Though generous and caring, Heidi’s manipulative and scarily impulsive behavior threatens to repel the people she cares for most, forcing her to confront her volatile young self.

An unflinchingly honest evocation of a young woman’s adult awakening, SOMERSAULT shows the power, excitement, and danger of emerging sexuality, when physical and emotional desires are haphazardly and confusingly explored. Abbie Cornish perfectly conveys the guarded insecurities and contradictions of a character both girlish and womanly, petulant and seductive, playful and serious, and never quite sure of when to be which. The performance calls to mind breakthrough performances by similarly stunning, richly talented Australian actresses like Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, and Naomi Watts. SOMERSAULT is a visually hypnotic, emotionally potent film, and a major breakthrough for both Cornish and writer/director Cate Shortland.

106 minutes. A Magnolia Pictures release. Unrated.

[Darko, Donnie]

The Magnolia website has the
USA DVD release set for July 25, 2006!!!

[Darko, Donnie]

On DVD in the USA now!!!

(worth a rental or purchase?)