Dir. Andrew Bovell, 2001, Australia/Germany, 121 mins
Cast:
Barbera Hershey, Geoffrey Rush, Anthony LaPaglia, Rachael Blake, Kerry Armstrong, Jon Bennett
With yet another Ashes series having begun disastrously for England, this may seem an inopportune time to be extolling the virtues of Australian cinema. But this engrossing drama, which swept the Australian Film Institute awards last year, is a worthy addition to the gallery of terrific films to have emerged from Down Under in recent years.
Lantana offers a sober, unglamorous look at the fragility of human relationships. The film revolves around eight characters, making up four couples, whose lives are characterised by varying degrees of suspicion, tension and unhappiness. The death of one of this octet, an eminent psychiatrist named Valerie Somers (Barbara Hershey), is the film's key single event and affects the lives of the other seven, including her husband (Geoffrey Rush), one of her clients (Kerry Armstrong) and her adulterous husband (Anthony LaPaglia), a cop who investigates the death. The chain of links between these characters is complex, but not unfathomable. More importantly, it is credible.
Although Lantana (the name refers to an indigenous flowering shrub that features in the story) is set in the suburbs around Sydney and is liberally spiced with typically Australian humour, its themes would fit easily into any suburban setting. An ongoing feature of the story is how people make assumptions about those they see around them, sometimes even about those they live and sleep with. These assumptions, understandable given their context but erroneous none the less, are symptomatic of a lack of trust that characterises the relationships in the story. For many viewers, watching Lantana will be like looking into a mirror.
The script (by Andrew Burvell, who co-wrote Strictly Ballroom) constantly puts us in the position of the characters making the assumptions, and thereby draws us deep into their lives. Burvell's screenwriting is very skilful indeed. He has created real people and given them real dialogue to speak, but has not relied on words to tell the story. He engages viewers rather than bamboozling them, offering an insightful commentary on human nature through the medium of entertaining cinema.
It is remarkable that the director of Lantana, Ray Lawrence, has only made one other film - and that was in 1985! Right from the opening credits sequence, which reveals Somers' dead body lying in a shady wood with the drone of cicadas filling the air, this film has a unique feel to it. The atmosphere throughout is a little eerie, with the hint of violence hanging over it like a shadow. I did find the ending something of a letdown, almost tame, but it is in keeping with the film's stark, everyday reality. Lawrence's direction throughout has great visual sense: he knows how to use the camera, and scarcely a shot is wasted as he weaves between the scattered lives of his characters.
But the highlight of Lantana is the acting. You won't see a better set of performances on any cricket field, even in Australia. This is an ensemble piece in the tradition of Altman and, more recently, Paul Thomas Anderson (whose acclaimed Magnolia has been compared to this film). Hershey (who's excellent) is just about the only outsider in this showcase of Australian screen acting present and future. I particularly enjoyed the strong performances of LaPaglia (returning to his native country after a mixed few years in Hollywood) and Armstrong.
All too often, a film does not add up to the sum of its parts. This is not the case with Lantana. Intelligent writing, thoughtful direction and passionate acting combine to make this one of the best films of the year so far.
Justin Whitton
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