Lantana

Lantana, directed by Ray Lawrence 2001.

Lantana is a non-native plant in Australia that is considered one of the biggest nuisances the country has. Comprised of twisting vines and sharp thorns it is a menace to the natural fauna of Australia. This background information is good to keep in mind while watching Ray Lawrence's twisting, complex piece of film that is Lantana.

Lantana has an excellent cast of actors comprised of Anthony LaPaglia, Geoffrey Rush, and other famous australian actors such as Vince Colosimo. The story centers around two different couples and their struggles to maintane their marriages. LaPaglia's character Leon is having an affair with fellow dance student Jane. Meanwhile psychaitrist Dr. Valerie Somers(Barbara Hershey) is running into difficulties with a patient while her marriage to John(Rush) is running on fumes since the murder of their daughter two years previous to the events of the film. A distinct lack of trust is everywhere, and things darken noticeably when Valerie Somers disappears after her car breaks down one evening.

On one level Lantana is another murder/suspense film filled with accusations, misleading clues, and repeated dead-ends. On another level, and the main reason I found this film enjoyable, the film is about the levels of dishonesty in current society and what that has done to us and to our communities.

I was prepared to hate this movie, because I felt it was going to be extremely predictable, yet as each moment reached it's point of revelation, I was continually surpised by the result. Slowly the each unfolding event won me over, untily by the end, I found myself appreciating the film as much as I was prepared to hate it just an hour or so earlier. I felt that it was a particularly nice touch that the resolution of the main plot, intially seems closed and complete, but upon consideration you find yourself becoming as distrusting as the characters in the film.

Compared to Ray Lawrence's earlier film Bliss, it interesting to see the progression Lawrence's look on marriage and urban life has taken. Bliss had some harsh commentary to make on these subjects, but it ended on an upbeat and hopeful note. Lantana has shed any pretenses of hope, and any conclusion presented in the film that might be considered hopeful is colored in the possibility of the deception that has run rampant through the rest of the film.

***Three stars.