2. Motifs and Meanings in Lantana Lantana explores the ideals of trust, respect, truth, honesty, love and loyalty through the lens of the many characters of the film. Even characters that are not obviously deceitful are forced into lies or half-truths. Nick lies to Peter about Jane, Claudia covers for Leon’s infidelity, Leon’s son lies to his mother about Leon’s message when he says ‘He’s sorry, he loves you and he wants you to stop being angry with him’. The film is deliberately constructed to help us (the audience) draw out as much meaning as possible. What follows is discussion of some of the most common motifs / symbols in the film.
3. Lantana film here From the very outset of the film we are introduced to the Lantana bush, verdant and blooming and seemingly peaceful. This bush of course conceals a web of interlaced branches, all clambering over one another to reach the light and in these entwined boughs there is the body of Valerie. The Lantana serves as a metaphor for the tensions in characters, manifested and attested in the surface or public face of each character. Beneath the surface is a tortured, self absorbed and private emotional interior world.
4. Jogging / Running Jogging or running appears at several key moments in the film. It is often symbolic of a characters struggle for freedom or escape. Early in the film Leon is seen running, ostensibly to improve his fitness, assumablt to impress his new lover. In a very real way he is running from his life and responsibilities – a run that is cut short by the sharp pains in his chest. Even when he is trying to set himself free he is constricted by a tightness in his chest, as though his depression has a grip on him. Leon’s collision with another jogger is another reminder of the damage that he is doing to those around him on his quest for personal fulfillment.
5. Dancing film here Dancing appears in the film on many occasions: The latin Dancing classes that Jane, Leon & Sonja attend. The Latin Dance club that Sonja goes to. Jane and Sonja dancing together Jane dancing by herself at the end Leon and Sonja dancing together at the end of the film. In many ways dancing stands in for the lack of intimacy in the characters lives. Sonja seeks the passion that no longer exists in her marriage – in the end Leon is able to rediscover his passion for Sonja and they dance together. Jane is also searching for passion and romance (something that was missing in her marriage). Dancing alone at the end of the film we are aware that Jane is yet to find fulfillment.
6. Windowsfilm here Windows are used throughout the film to signify distance and separation. Jane is constantly watching her neighbours ‘happy’ lives unfold through her window – she is not able to participate in this – an emotional barrier being signified by an actual one. Claudia’s mystery man is seen through the windows of the restaurant highlighting their separation cf. the end when they meet in the restaurant and there is no barrier Valerie and John are kept from their absent daughter by the window at the bookstore – forced to look on but unable to reach her. Patrick is removed from his lover as he looks through the window onto his ‘happy life’ – the unattainable he can see but not touch much like Jane. Leon must walk through the windowed door to reach out to Sonja to finalise reconciliation.
7. Jewelry / clothing Jewelry and clothing serve as reminders of things lost in Lantana, drawing out emotion from the characters. Jane’s earing is the first notable personal item, a memento of her past life with her husband, the loss of it during a romantic tryst with another man gives an insight to the audience of the complicated nature of these characters’ lives. Note also how her husband lingers over them when he revisits their home. Both Jane and Valerie’s wedding rings are highlighted at points during the film, Jane discusses cutting hers off as it is on too tight – she is unable to fully extricate herself from her marriage – it has become a burden, a blight – something that needs to be surgically removed, like a cancerous growth. Valerie’s shoe is the only physical indication of her disappearance, a symbol for Nick’s guilty conscience and later a symbol for Janes suspicion as it dominates the sitting room when the police visit.
8. Meals / Eating Characters very rarely sit together to eat a meal adding significance to the times that they do during the film. They are often times when the characters are able to be open an honest with one another – or at least more so than at other times. The breakast scene with Leon and his family at the start of the film paints him in a sympathetic light – placed at the nucleus of his family home – it would appear to be a moment of normality which is directly juxtaposed with his violence in apprehending a criminal in the next scene. Claudia, dining alone at a booth with room for two, seems to be waiting, searching for something meaningful to share her life / dinner with the act of eating together takes on a symbolic value of family / connectedness. This idea is further explored in the scene with patricks lover who is scene sharing a meal with his family whist Patrick looks on, isolated
9. Cars film here Of all the forms of transport , cars are the most isolated and separate from the outside world. Many of the films characters travel through the world coccooned inside their cars, disconnected from the world around them, often travelling at night, through the darkness, unable to see what is passing them by. Valerie is forever suggesting to John that they share a car, endeavouring to overcome the distance between them, her suggestions are mostly rebuffed, John preferring to make his own way through the darkness of their lives – he is already disconnected from her. The failure of Valerie’s car, it’s breakdown echoes her own personal, psychological breakdown, she is both literally and figuratively left scrambling around in the dark looking for a way to get ‘back home’. Leon’s final breakdown occurs in his car, it is a personal space where he is protected from the outside world yet he cannot protect himself from his own mistakes and problems, they are locked in with him – his isolation forcing him to face them finally. Also John’s confession. By getting into someone else’s car Sonja is making a connection with another person – a connection which she is essentially uncomfortable with. Nick’s car become’s central to the narrative – It is always on the street / on display / being tinkered with, improved, much like Nik himself his car has nothing to hide.
10. Recordings / tapes The inability of many of the characters in Lantana to communicate directly is emphasised by the use of recordings and tapes to convey important messages. Valerie and Sonja are unable to voice their concerns to their partners but are able to divulge their personal information through the medium of tape. Another symbol of the disconnection between the characters tapes serve to bring truth into otherwise confused and secretive situations.
12. Trust / Deception Characters in Lantana have an uneasy relationship with the concept of Trust. Sonja and Patrick place trust in Valerie to help them deal with their personal issues as a professional – in some way this trust is broken when she disappears. The issues that they come to see her about are to do with whether or not they can trust their partners. Valerie, despite counselling others on the issue, seems to be unable to form a bond of trust with anyone. She assumes her husband is having an affair, she assumes that Nick has a ulterior motive for taking her off the main road. Nick and Paula seem to be the only characters in the film whose relationship is based on trust – Paula’s assertion that Nick didn’t kill Valerie ‘because he told me’ is a damning endictment on the other characters inability to trust each other.
13. Grief / Malaise Both grief in death and grief in relationships are represented in Lantana. Valerie and John’s daughter, Eleanor, was murdered several years before, and their marrieage has disintegrated as a result of their lack of communication. Valerie has written a book on grief and lectures both publicily and to her patients, but is unable to communicate with her husband. Sonja is grieving for her lost marriage and the distance that has arisen between herself and Leon. Leon’s response to the death of his relationship is more of a malaise, an inability to feel which drives him toward self destructive behaviour.
14. Love / Yearning / Betrayal Sonja states, in a session with Valerie, that she loves her husband, despite her belief that he is having an affair. For Sonja the pain would not be the affair but the silence that surrounds the affair. Jane has left her husband because she has ‘fallen out of love with him’. Paula and Nick appear able to weather anything that is thrown at them because they love each other. Leon is still in love with his wife but is unable to express this to her until the end of the film. John feels betrayed by Valerie and her public outpouring of grief, his love for her is quiet and painful but very much existent. Patrick is caught out by love, love that is doomed to end in emotional pain due to the circumstances.
