Sunday 21 May 2023

Lantana (2001 Ray Lawrence)

Multi-character relationship drama which ostensibly seems to be a murder investigation. Anthony Lapaglia is a pent-up detective who's having an affair with divorced Rachel Blake - her neighbours are nurse Daniela Farinacci and unemployed Vince Colosimo - whilst Blake's ex Glenn Robbins (familiar from Kath and Kim) lurks nearby. Lapaglia's wife Kerry Armstrong is seeing psychotherapist Barbara Hershey, who's married to distant Geoffrey Rush (they lost their daughter two years before). Peter Phelps is a slightly threatening therapy patient, Leah Purcell is a fellow detective.

A character-driven slow-burner, benefitting from slow-burn music from Steve Hadley and fellow members of Professor Ratbaggy, and nice high contrast lighting from Mandy Walker. It reminds me to some extent of a seventies American neo-noir.

Very successful - written by Andrew Bovell from his play - you wouldn't know - 'Speaking in Tongues'. Nice little touches involving Lapaglia's kids, fellow detective fancying man in restaurant; well observed. Nicely nuanced characters - there's no black-and-white here. In fact the moment Lapaglia starts to cry (having earlier said "You just hold it in") is almost the key moment in it.



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