I find it rather ironic that in the past six months I've been writing reviews on this site, I haven't reviewed an Australian film. Lantana is the first one I've seen since I started and it was also quite an interesting film, so it gets a review.
Lantana (so named after a plant that features prominently in the film's Sydney setting) is half mystery, half ensemble drama. It opens with the slow revealing of a dead woman caught up in a bunch of bushes, before progressing on to the main stories.
The first half of the film sets up each of the dozen or so main characters: the apparent protagonist is detective Leon (Anthony LaPaglia). Although he's married to Sonja (Kerry Armstrong), he has an affair with Jane (Rachael Blake), who's currently separated from her own husband Peter (Glenn Robbins). Sonja suspects Leon's affair and confides in renowned therapist Valerie Somers (Barbara Hershey). Valerie is herself having a personal crisis or two, dealing with her emotionally distant husband John (Geoffrey Rush) and the unnerving revelations of one client, a gay man named Patrick (Peter Phelps). There are more sub-plots and characters that interweave in the lives of these characters on the edge, but those are the ones that truly drive the film.
The second half of the film begins when it's revealed that Valerie has disappeared. Since several characters have some connection to her, it ramps up the tension between each character to breaking point.
Handling a movie with multiple sub-plots is always difficult. You only ever hear about it if the makers get it absolutely right. Lantana managed to get it right, juggling each sub-plot smoothly. The film lasts for about two hours (roughly an hour less than films of a similar breed like Magnolia or Short Cuts) and it does not drag at all. It even feature a couple of mysteries outside of the main "disappearance" arc (the most obvious ones including "Who has Patrick been sleeping with?" and "What does Sonja say at the end of the therapy session?") Visually speaking, the film is brilliant. The quality see-saws from grainy to polished in such a manner that it works. The acting (comprised of several well-known Australian actors, including a surprisingly serious turn by Robbins) is top-notch. Some moments may be over-the-top, but overall it's done well and with considerable restraint. I don't remember being too impressed with the score, but I'd figure that if it was good I'd remember it.
Lantana may not be the most original of films. As I outlined earlier, it's very similar to Short Cuts and Magnolia in terms of narrative, and the strength of the disappearance mystery may seem about as strong to a modern audience as the plot of the average CSI episode. However, as a whole the film works out fine. It proves to be a complex, thought-provoking meditation on the lives of overly human people that aren't necessarily bad, but just struggle to try and stay good even in the face of such extreme adversity.
Lantana (so named after a plant that features prominently in the film's Sydney setting) is half mystery, half ensemble drama. It opens with the slow revealing of a dead woman caught up in a bunch of bushes, before progressing on to the main stories.
The first half of the film sets up each of the dozen or so main characters: the apparent protagonist is detective Leon (Anthony LaPaglia). Although he's married to Sonja (Kerry Armstrong), he has an affair with Jane (Rachael Blake), who's currently separated from her own husband Peter (Glenn Robbins). Sonja suspects Leon's affair and confides in renowned therapist Valerie Somers (Barbara Hershey). Valerie is herself having a personal crisis or two, dealing with her emotionally distant husband John (Geoffrey Rush) and the unnerving revelations of one client, a gay man named Patrick (Peter Phelps). There are more sub-plots and characters that interweave in the lives of these characters on the edge, but those are the ones that truly drive the film.
The second half of the film begins when it's revealed that Valerie has disappeared. Since several characters have some connection to her, it ramps up the tension between each character to breaking point.
Handling a movie with multiple sub-plots is always difficult. You only ever hear about it if the makers get it absolutely right. Lantana managed to get it right, juggling each sub-plot smoothly. The film lasts for about two hours (roughly an hour less than films of a similar breed like Magnolia or Short Cuts) and it does not drag at all. It even feature a couple of mysteries outside of the main "disappearance" arc (the most obvious ones including "Who has Patrick been sleeping with?" and "What does Sonja say at the end of the therapy session?") Visually speaking, the film is brilliant. The quality see-saws from grainy to polished in such a manner that it works. The acting (comprised of several well-known Australian actors, including a surprisingly serious turn by Robbins) is top-notch. Some moments may be over-the-top, but overall it's done well and with considerable restraint. I don't remember being too impressed with the score, but I'd figure that if it was good I'd remember it.
Lantana may not be the most original of films. As I outlined earlier, it's very similar to Short Cuts and Magnolia in terms of narrative, and the strength of the disappearance mystery may seem about as strong to a modern audience as the plot of the average CSI episode. However, as a whole the film works out fine. It proves to be a complex, thought-provoking meditation on the lives of overly human people that aren't necessarily bad, but just struggle to try and stay good even in the face of such extreme adversity.