Lantana

Genre: ensemble drama
Director: Ray Lawrence
Release: 2001
Studio: Beyond Films, Jan Chapman Films et al. – Lionsgate
Rating: R
MBiS score: 8.3/10


Mysteries By Night, Mysteries By Day


In Sydney, Australia, psychiatrist Valerie Somers (Barbara Hershey) launches a book entitled Eleanor in which she describes how both herself and her husband John Knox (Geoffrey Rush) have coped with their daughter’s violent death. Elsewhere in town, police detective Leon Zat (Anthony LaPaglia) cheats on his wife Sonja (Kerry Armstrong) with a separated woman named Jane O’May (Rachael Blake) who attends a Latin dance class with them.

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Sometimes, lesser-known films are the most enjoyable and this is certainly the case with LANTANA, a fine feature that manages to be down-to-earth and otherworldly all at once. Without fanfare, Ray Lawrence has crafted a marvelous slice-of-life film that will warm your heart like GRAND CANYON in a similar vein.

What can you expect from LANTANA? A superb and unpredictable story-line, thoughtful dialogues, wonderful acting and an exquisite ending. Overall, you will be amazed by this film’s simplicity... but of course simplicity is beauty itself. As for the script’s underlying metaphor, you only need to know that a 'lantana' is an attractive plant with large flowers and a vast network of intertwined branches.

Friends on the Net and in blogland, do trust me here. LANTANA is one of life’s little treasures and I don’t want to spoil it for you. Do see it!


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