Lantana

'None of the characters in Lantana are particularly attractive. All are deeply flawed human beings.' Discuss whether you agree with this statement.

Lantana delves into the world of the middle-aged and married, and gives the audience insight into the crises they face and the resolution and conclusion to their mid-life melodramas. Throughout the text we see each characters ability to deceive both themselves and others and this is discovered through not only the powerfully driven narrative of the text, but is represented also by the actors and the filmic techniques used to exemplify each theme and character.

Jane is lonely and lives a very unsatisfying and unfulfilled life and not only does she drag herself into oblivion with her transient and meaningless lifestyle, but she attempts to ruin the marriage of family man Leon by pulling him into her Lantana of superficial love. She is played by Rachael Blake who is created in the film to look aesthetically bland as an accurate representation of her drab and isolated life. At the end of the film we see her in a dimly lit room the dark light portraying the bleak future that she is yet to face but this is only the beginning of the representation of Jane's unattractiveness. The film sets the audience as a vouyeur by the lack of close-up camera shots and as we feel we are allowed to watch Jane's self destruction, we gain an appreciation of Jane's ugliness. She proves to be a problematic antagonist and hinders Leon in his pursuit for happiness and is it fair to say that Jane is presented to the audience as anything but attractive.

Anthony LaPaglia's handsome looks are juxtaposed against his aggressive nature and his inability to show his emotions. We are presented with a man who although middle-aged and gaining weight still retains his masculine face setting him up as an appealing character viewed in a positive light by the audience. This is reiterated by the lighting used in Leon's home, we are always shown a well lit and inviting house, complemented by a soft sound track suggesting to the audience that we are seeing an ideal home life. However, outside of the home, we are shown a darker, less appealing side of Leon. For instance, a prime example of Leon's brutality can be seen in the drug-bust scene when he physically attacks the criminal. The shot is covered with a soft-blue filter providing a dank and unattractive contrast,