Lantana (film)
| Lantana | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Ray Lawrence |
| Produced by | Jan Chapman |
| Screenplay by | Andrew Bovell |
| Based on |
Speaking In Tongues by Andrew Bovell |
| Starring |
Anthony LaPaglia Geoffrey Rush Barbara Hershey Kerry Armstrong Rachael Blake Vince Colosimo Russell Dykstra Daniela Farinacci Peter Phelps Leah Purcell Glenn Robbins |
| Music by | Paul Kelly |
| Cinematography | Mandy Walker |
| Edited by | Karl Sodersten |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Palace Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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121 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $15.7 million |
Lantana is a 2001 Australian drama film, directed by Ray Lawrence and starring Anthony LaPaglia, Kerry Armstrong, Geoffrey Rush and Barbara Hershey. It is based on the play Speaking In Tongues by Andrew Bovell, which premiered at Sydney's Griffin Theatre Company. The film won seven AACTA Awards including Best Film and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Lantana is set in suburban Sydney and focuses on the complex relationships between the characters in the film. The central event of the film is the disappearance and death of a woman whose body is shown at the start of the film, but whose identity is not revealed until later. The film's name derives from the plant Lantana, a weed prevalent in suburban Sydney.
An unknown woman's body is seen caught in the lantana bush, missing a shoe. Leon (Anthony LaPaglia), a police officer, and Jane (Rachael Blake) have sex in a motel room. They part ways, and we see that Leon and his wife Sonja (Kerry Armstrong) attend Latin dance classes that the recently-separated Jane is also taking. Leon does not enjoy the classes, and is seen savagely beating a drug dealer during a bust. He has emotional issues, but won't confront or admit to them. Sonja sees a therapist, Valerie (Barbara Hershey) who has just published a book on her own daughter's murder 18 months ago. She and her husband, John, (Geoffrey Rush) are barely on speaking terms; he later refers to their marriage as held together by their grief. She feels threatened by another patient of hers, Patrick Phelan, who is having an affair with a married man and is forcing Valerie to confront her own issues in her marriage to John.
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Wikipedia