Lantana (2002)

This is a complex drama. Although the film involves a murder, the story is more the exploration of a number of interconnected relationships.The film starts with a woman's body lying in a lantana bush, but we don't know who it is until the end. The story builds up to that point, and centres on a quartet of families starting with Leon Zat (Anthony La Paglia), a police detective, and his wife Sonja (Kerry Armstrong)."Lantana", the title of the film, refers to the noxious weed that grows like crazy and eventually strangles and entangles everything else in the garden - it's the perfect metaphor for the way all the various relationships are being strangled and entangled by infidelity, deception and unhappiness.The structure of the film is similar to Robert Altman's "Short Cuts" where different stories intersect at critical times.Although the film has a sense of mystery, I found "Lantana" just too serious and humourless. Unlike "Short Cuts", there really isn't a light touch in the whole thing. Anthony La Paglia's Leon Zat makes the characters played by Nicholas Cage seem deliriously happy by comparison. I am also wary in Australian movies of scenes set in psychiatrist's offices; it often allows the 'meaningful' dialogue to be delivered in very large chunks.After a while, for me at any rate, the interconnectivity - where no meeting is random - comes across as just a little too laboured. What saves "Lantana" is that everyone plays it low-key - the actors give the movie class.The brilliant Barbara Hershey has competition for attention from two other women: Kerry Armstrong and Rachael Blake. Kerry Armstrong is one of the most interesting actors in Australian film and television, and she ages beautifully.The film steps up a notch when the mystery kicks in about halfway through, and it becomes partly a police procedural."Lantana" was loved up by the critics and won every Australian film award going at the time it was released. It is the sort of smart, multi-layered film that the cognoscenti could discuss at some length over lattes on Sunday morning.The film is well made and the acting is flawless, but it seems interminably stretched out, an effect aided by the chilled out score. My main problem with "Lantana" is that it seems to self-consciously scream out "How clever is my script?" I can see the gears turning.

The lives of a number of married couples are put under the microscope in this drama that focuses on the emotional distances that develop between husbands and wives. Infidelity, grief and a lack of trust are just some of the reasons for such problems and their inability to communicate successfully is identified as the biggest single barrier to them resolving their issues. The typical tendency for women to want to talk things through and for men to keep everything bottled up is at the heart of their communication problems and the pain, despondency and heartache caused is absolutely immeasurable.Screenwriter Andrew Bovell's adaptation of his own stage play "Speaking In Tongues" is well-written, intelligent and thoroughly absorbing to watch and director Ray Lawrence's sensitive pacing is perfect for this type of material.When a woman's dead body is discovered in some bushes in a suburban area of Sydney, Australia, detective sergeant Leon Zat (Anthony LaPaglia) is assigned to the case and his investigation brings him into contact with a series of people whose lives are all connected (directly or indirectly) with each other.Leon is depressed, overweight and in the throes of a mid-life crisis that has made him feel totally numb. In order to try to feel something again, he has a one-night-stand (which happens twice!!) with Jane O'May (Rachael Blake) who's separated from her husband and disappointed when her assignation with Leon fails to develop into an affair. Leon's neglected wife Sonia (Kerry Armstrong) suspects that he may be cheating on her and consults psychiatrist Dr Valerie Somers (Barbara Hershey) to try to come to terms with her predicament.Valerie's got troubles of her own as she's been consumed with grief for the last couple of years since the murder of her young daughter and her attempt to ameliorate the situation by writing a book about the experience hasn't brought her any closure. To make matters worse, her marriage with John (Geoffrey Rush) has also become dysfunctional and she's started to suspect that he may be having an affair with her gay client, Patrick Phelan (Peter Phelps) who she finds difficult to deal with because of his unpleasant attitude.Jane's neighbours, Nik (Vince Colosimo) and Paula D'Amato (Daniella Farinacci) struggle to get by but have the type of trusting relationship that Jane envies. One night, when she sees Nik throw a woman's shoe into the bushes where the dead body was found, she reports the matter to the police and this puts Nik in the frame for the woman's murder. This, however, doesn't provide Leon with a simple conclusion to his investigation.This story of complicated relationships is haunting, realistic and subtle in the way that it's presented and captures beautifully the quiet despair of ordinary suburban people who are trying to cope with their problems whilst also having to meet the routine demands of their daily lives. Top class performances (especially from LaPaglia and Hershey) and some beautiful photography complement the melancholy mood of the piece perfectly and there are also a couple of Edward Hopper inspired scenes when Leon meets Jane's estranged husband in a bar and in a kitchen where he has a conversation with his sidekick Claudia (Leah Purcell). Overall, "Lantana" is a thoughtful and serious movie with well-developed characters that'll resonate most strongly with mature audiences.

The storyline of this movie unfolded more like an episode of a TV cop drama than a serious film. Quite a disappointment to me, as I've heard so much about it over the years.I can't fault any of the performances, they are all excellent actors and they made the most of what could have been so much better if it hadn't descended to almost melodrama in places. The ending in particular was painful to me - why oh why did they have to tick all the boxes and tie up all the relationship ends? I hate it when movies (particularly this one that appeared to take itself seriously)attempt to give us a warm feeling by showing how well everything turned out for most of the characters.LaPaglia was good, he doesn't know how to be otherwise - although his Aussie accent slipped in a couple of places. in the end I wasn't sure whether to think of his character as a cop who oversteps the mark way too often and hopefully now he has made up with his wife won't do it any more? And why the heart attack symptoms? Were we supposed to be expecting him to keel over at any point?So, why all the suspense - it really came to nothing much - there was no murder - everyone we suspected proved to be innocent. The poor lady psychiatrist was in dire need of one herself - her husband, who already had enough to be upset about was left to blame himself forever - and the rest of them (mainly) lived happily ever after.In effect it was just a fairytale with spooky music.

Australian screenwriter and director Ray Lawrence's second feature film which was written by Australian playwright and screenwriter Andrew Bovell, is an adaptation of Andrew Bovell's stage play called "Speaking in Tongues" from 1996. It premiered at the 48th Sydney Film Festival in 2001, was shot on location in Sydney, Australia and is an Australian production which was produced by Australian producer Jan Chapman. It tells the story about a police officer named Leon who lives in a suburb with his wife named Sonja and their two sons. Leon and Sonja are both having concerns about their marriage and whilst Sonja talks to a psychiatrist named Valerie, Leon befriends a woman named Jane. Distinctly and precisely directed by Australian filmmaker Ray Lawrence, this rhythmic fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints, draws an invariably engaging portrayal of a cop who after beginning an affair with a woman he meets at a dancing course learns that a therapist has disappeared. While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions, sterling production design by production designer Kim Buddee, cinematography by cinematographer Mandy Walker and costume design by costume designer Margot Wilson, this character-driven and narrative-driven story depicts several interrelated and refined studies of character and contains an efficient score by Australian composer Paul Kelly. This romantic, conversational and atmospheric thriller which is set in Sydney, Australia and where interpersonal relations and personalities are acutely examined and characters as poignant as the stories, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, subtle character development, enigmatic characters, incorporation of theater in cinema and the reverent acting performances by Australian actors Anthony LaPaglia and Geoffrey Rush, Australian actresses Rachael Blake and Kerry Armstrong and American actress Barbara Hershey. An eloquent, dramatic and multifaceted mystery from the early 2000s which gained, among numerous other awards, the award for Best Film at the 43rd AFI Awards in 2001.