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LANTANA
Lantana
is a shrub with pretty flowers on the outside. But it grows into
a tangled thicket if not kept trimmed. The lives of four couples
in Lantana are very much like such a shrub.
Review By Darrel Manson
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LANTANA
(2002)
This
page was created on January 8, 2002
This page was last updated on May 21, 2005
About
the Production
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CREDITS
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 Directed
by Ray Lawrence
Writing credits: Andrew Bovell
(play Speaking in Tongues)
Anthony
LaPaglia .... Leon Zat
Geoffrey Rush .... John Knox
Barbara Hershey .... Dr. Valerie Somers
Kerry Armstrong .... Sonja Zat
Rachael Blake .... Jane O'May
Vince Colosimo .... Nik Daniels
Russell Dykstra .... Michael
Daniella Farinacci .... Paula Daniels
Peter Phelps .... Patrick Phelan
Leah Purcell .... Claudia
Glenn Robbins .... Pete O'May
Nicholas Cooper .... Sam Zat
Marc Dwyer .... Dylan Zat
Keira Wingate .... Hannah Daniels
Melissa Martinez .... Lisa Lani
John Tupu .... Patrick's Lover
Jon Bennett .... Steve
Ashley Fitzgerald .... Eleanor
Gabriella Maselli .... Sarah
Owen McKenna .... Old man in pajamas
Richard Morecroft .... Newsreader
Ben Mortley .... Jose
Puven Panther .... Drug dealer
Glen Suter .... Police officer
Produced by Mikael Borglund (executive producer), Jan Chapman (producer),
Catherine Jarman (line producer), Rainer Mockert (executive producer)
Original music by Paul Kelly
Cinematography by Mandy Walker
Film Editing by Karl Sodersten
MPAA:
Rated R for language and sexuality.
Runtime: 121
About
the Production
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Sometimes
love isn't enough
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 SYNOPSIS:
Ray Lawrence's LANTANA is an intelligent, well-written, well-acted
film that is much more than just another cop thriller--it's more
like YOU CAN COUNT ON ME with its realistic, complex relationships
and believable characters. The film opens with a slow pan over a
dead body, eerily reminiscent of BLUE VELVET. Anthony LaPaglia stars
as Leon, a Sydney police detective who is cheating on his wife,
Sonja (Kerry Armstrong), with a married woman from their dance class
(Rachael Blake), even though he still loves his wife. There's something
missing from his life, but he's not sure what. His relationship
with his son is strained, and even his partner, Claudia (Leah Purcell),
knows something is wrong. But as his affair heats up and a murder
mystery that seems to involve all of the people in his life begins
to consume his attentions, he is forced to reexamine his future
both as a family man and a cop.
LANTANA
won seven Australian Film Institute Awards, including best picture,
best director for Lawrence, best actor for LaPaglia, best actress
for Armstrong, best supporting awards for both Blake and Colosimo,
and best adapted screenplay by Andrew Bovell, who based the script
on his play SPEAKING IN TONGUES. As the murder investigation gets
more complicated and the tangled web leads to even more lying, cheating,
and deception, the acting intensifies, and the sharp dialogue allows
the characters to blossom as beautifully as the lantana bush referred
to in the title.
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REVIEW
BY
DARREL MANSON
Pastor,
Artesia Christian Church, Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Darrel
has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts. His reviews
usually include independent and significantly important film. Some
of his reviews: Chocolat, Dancer
in the Dark, Faithless, Finding
Forrester, Memento, O
Brother Where art Thou, Pollock, Quills,
Shadow of a Vampire, Widow
of St Pierre, Jump Tomorrow,
Tortilla Soup, Go
Tiger, Life As a House, The
Business of Strangers, The Man Who
Wasn't There, A Beautiful Mind,
In the Bedroom, Shipping
News, Lantana
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 Lantana
is a shrub with pretty flowers on the outside. But it grows into
a tangled thicket if not kept trimmed.
 The
lives of four couples in Lantana are very much like such a shrub.
In many ways all seems normal on the outside. But these people become
strangely (even almost humorously) interconnected and tangled, and
the flowers give no hint at what lies beneath.
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 Here's
part of the tangle that develops: police investigator Leon Zat's wife
Sonja is seeing therapist Dr. Valerie Somers, whose missing person
report Zat will be investigating. Dr. Somers and her husband, John
Knox, are struggling with the grief of losing a child. Zat has been
having an affair with Jane O'May, who is in a salsa dance class with
Leon and Sonja and even ends up partnered with Sonja when there aren't
enough men for all the women. Dr. Somers runs into Jane's estranged
husband Pete on the street and yells at him with no provocation. Pete
needs a drink and goes into a bar where he and Leon strike up a conversation.
And it goes on |
 There
is a mystery that is an important driving force in the plot of the
movie, but in reality, the mystery is just a vehicle to allow us to
see the struggle that goes into all these relationships. The tangle
of the lantana plant and the tangle of the various couples also gives
way to the tangle within each person and each relationship. |
 We
see the stresses and insecurities that are under the surface. For
example, Dr. Somers has written a best selling book about the murder
of their daughter. She wonders if her husband even grieves. But we
see him going to the place she was killed taking flowers into a dark
alley and seeing the dried out flowers from previous visits. Both
have struggled with the grief, but the ways they have done it (one
publicly, one privately) have not brought them closer, but separated
them even more. |
 We
also see Leon Zat who refuses to let the tangle of his life be seen.
He is never honest about his marriage, blatantly lying about even
it when the lie serves no purpose. And he never lets his emotions
out. When talking to Pete in the bar, he tells of holding a man who
was crying and has disdain that a man would do that. Pete asks if
he'd ever wanted to cry. Leon responds, "Well, yeah, but we don't,
do we?" And yet in time, the facade he tries to maintain gives what
to the more basic feeling underneath. |
 The
movie shows us very clearly that marriage is hard. It's hard to maintain
the love that brings people together as years go by, situations change,
people change. Some go on just because of momentum. Some find new
ways to keep the flame kindled. Some make serious mistakes and do
serious harm. Some give up too quickly. Some hang on too long. |
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Marriage
(and life) is often much different on the surface than what lies
beneath. We only see the surface of most of the people and relationships
we encounter day by day. And we usually only let others see the
surface of our lives. The tangle underneath may not be as pleasant,
but it is where the real part of our lives takes place. We may prefer
the pretty flowers of the surface, but the love that makes those
flowers only survives because of the life in the tangled stresses.
Continued
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PHOTOS
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PLEASE
ADVICE
Subject: Ben Mortley - Lantana
Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2002
From: Faryaal
Could you please advise as to how I can contact Ben Mortley who
starred in Lantana. Could you possibly provide me with an email
address?
Faryaal
Response:
I have no such information. -David
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OFFICIAL
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Lantana © 2002 Lions Gate Films. All Rights
Reserved.
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