COMING-OF-AGE SAGA REVEALS FROSTY RELATIONS IN AUSTRALIA.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

In Cate Shortland's terrific first feature, ``Somersault,'' a teenage girl sets off on a sexual and moral coming-of-age odyssey that resonates with remarkable truth and purity.

Often harrowing and traumatically tough-minded, this fine Australian film is ultimately about growth and some of the better attributes, like self-knowledge and forgiveness, that ideally come with it. Along the journey, Shortland stages some of the most atmospheric and nerve-racking scenes we're likely to see this year.

And most of that in a place we've never seen before, nor probably knew existed: the small ski resort of Jindabyne in the Australian ``Alps'' of New South Wales.

That's where brazen, scared and not-real-bright love monkey Heidi (Abbie Cornish) flees after she's caught trying to seduce her mother's boyfriend. Though she maintains a cool, carnally predatory exterior, Heidi has deep-down, five-alarm clinger potential, which bubbles to the surface when she gets involved with Joe (Sam Worthington), the charming but confused and noncommittal son of a prosperous area rancher.

Only 16, Heidi gradually discovers that her slutty behavior and limited employment Even the maternal motel owner Irene (Lynette Curran), who takes Heidi under her wing, has her patience tried by the wayward girl. But Cornish's astonishingly empathic performance always stays directly connected to Heidi's troubled soul, and her yearning actually seems to protect her from the consequences of some very dire situations.

Shortland, who also wrote ``Somersault,'' goes for intimate camera setups. Her understanding of the female psyche - and not just Heidi's - is comprehensive, unflinching and suffused with love. She's a little less certain with the men; an ``Outback Mountain'' kind of interlude feels particularly contrived. But Shortland more than compensates for that with a sure feel for small-town relationships and frustrations.

``Somersault'' marks the emergence of yet another outstanding Australian actress in Cornish, and of another filmmaker from the Antipodes who, like Gillian Armstrong and Jane Campion, possesses an uncanny ability to render women's consciousness through moving images.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

SOMERSAULT - Three and one half stars

(Not rated: sex, nudity, drug use, language, mild violence)

Starring: Abbie Cornish, Sam Worthington, Lynette Curran.

Director: Cate Shortland.

Running time: 1 hr. 46 min.

Playing: Laemmle Sunset 5, West Hollywood.

In a nutshell: Fearless, observant story of an Australian teenager's sexual and emotional maturation. Artfully shot in New South Wales' skiing region.

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Photo:

Abbie Cornish is a teen looking for love in Australia 3/8s mountains in ``Somersault.''