Lantana (film)

Movie
German title	Lantana
Original title	Lantana
Country of production	Australia , Germany
original language	English
Publishing year	2001
length	120 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Ray Lawrence
script	Andrew Bovell
production	Jan Chapman
music	Steve Hadley ; Bruce Haymes ; Paul Kelly ; Peter Luscombe ; Shane O'Mara
camera	Mandy Walker
cut	Karl Sodersten
occupation
	Anthony LaPaglia : Detective Leon Zat; Rachael Blake : Jane O'May; Kerry Armstrong : Sonja Zat; Manu Bennett : Steve Valdez; Melissa Martinez : Lisa; Nicholas Cooper : Sam Zat; Marc Dwyer : Dylan Zat; Leah Purcell : Detective Claudia Wiss; Barbara Hershey : Dr. Valerie Somers; Geoffrey Rush : John Knox; Peter Phelps : Patrick Phelan; Ashley Fitzgerald : Eleanor; Vince Colosimo : Nik Daniels; Daniella Farinacci : Paula Daniels; Keira Wingate : Hannah Daniels;

Lantana is an Australian - German drama from 2001 . Directed by Ray Lawrence , the screenplay was written by Andrew Bovell based on his own play Speaking in Tongues (German title: Lantana ).

action

The film begins with the police officer Leon Zat cheating on his wife Sonja with Jane O'May. Sonja, who has two children, goes to therapy with Valerie Somers, who is traumatized after a murder that took place years ago. Therapy sessions of other patients are given with Dr. Somers shown. One day Somers' car breaks down and she calls her husband and puts a message on the answering machine. In one of the other messages, she accuses her husband of having an affair with her homosexual patient.

The next day, Dr. Somers reported missing; their car is found. Leon Zat takes over the investigation. He meets again with O'May, who breaks up with him. A little later, O'May finds a shoe on the property of her neighbor Nik Daniels; it turns out that the Dr. Somers belonged. Daniels is taken to the police station and questioned. Zat freaks out when the man remembers seeing him at O'May's. Daniels tells police that he met Somers on the street and took her in his car. She suddenly jumped out of the car and ran away. He left her behind so she wouldn't be afraid of him.

The corpse of Dr. Somers is found in a ravine she fell into. Leon listens to the tapes of the therapy sessions - including the one where his wife says she is accusing him of having an affair but still loves him. The film ends with Leon and Sonja dancing together.

Reviews

David Stratton wrote in Variety magazine on June 11, 2001 that the psychological drama had "wonderful" presentations and intense observation. Both would provide an “unusual” density of realism ( “an unusual level of realism” ); apparently unimportant details would later prove to be significant.

The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was a psychological thriller based on the film noir genre and the episodic narrative perspective of Robert Altman . It was "told in an exciting way" , " staged with verve" and "excellently cast" . His “somnambulistic equanimity” overcomes “cleverly all-too-simple genre mechanisms” and “at the same time maintains a puzzling peculiarity” .

Cinema magazine wrote that the film was “fraught with problems to the point of desperation” and “as fascinatingly ominous as a David Lynch puzzle ” , but “not nearly as cryptic” . It might please those onlookers who like Mulholland Drive - Street of Darkness and Short Cuts .

Awards

Anthony LaPaglia, Vince Colosimo, Kerry Armstrong, Rachael Blake, Ray Lawrence, Jan Chapman and - in two categories - Andrew Bovell won the Australian Film Institute Award in 2001 . The six other nominations for the same award included those for Daniella Farinacci, for the score, for the editing and for the costumes. The film as Best Picture , Ray Lawrence, the ensemble of actors and the script received 2001 awards from the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festivals . The film received a special award from the US National Board of Review in 2001 . Ray Lawrence received an award from the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2001 and was nominated for the Golden Shell of the Festival Internacional de Cine de Donostia-San Sebastián . Anthony LaPaglia, the five-star cast, Ray Lawrence, Best Feature Film and Andrew Bovell received the 2001 Australian IF Award . The film was nominated for the same award for music, cinematography, and sound. In 2002 he received the IF Award for box office earnings.

The film for Best Motion Picture , Kerry Armstrong, Anthony LaPaglia, Daniella Farinacci and Andrew Bovell for the script won the 2002 Film Critics Circle of Australia Award . The eight other nominations for the same prize included those for direction, for camera work, for editing and for film music. Ray Lawrence received two awards from the Cognac Festival du Film Policier in 2002 . The film won the British Independent Film Award for Best Foreign English Language Film in 2002 . Andrew Bovell won the Chlotrudis Award in 2003 , Anthony LaPaglia was nominated for the same award. Andrew Bovell received the London Critics Circle Film Award in 2003 .

backgrounds

The film was shot in Sydney and a few other locations in New South Wales . Its world premiere took place on June 8, 2001 at the Sydney Film Festival , which opened with the film. This was followed by screenings at the Telluride Film Festival , the Toronto International Film Festival and the Festival Internacional de Cine de Donostia-San Sebastián in September 2001, as well as at a few other film festivals. The film was released in Australian cinemas on October 4, 2001 and grossed approximately 12.3 million Australian dollars ; in the USA about 4.46 million US dollars were made. In France there were over 201,000 cinema viewers.