In the film Lantana (directed by Ray Laurence 2001), one of the plots main aspects is the suspected death and murder of one of the female lead characters. However, the film itself is much more than this, it’s a deep look into the life’s of couples and people, all with their own problems that effect their behavior in one way or the other. The film focuses on this key point more than anything else. Such as the communication between couples and other people, the focus on adultery committed by certain characters in the film. And the overall grief this causes to certain individuals. This essay will go into detail to elaborate on these key points and thus show that the suspected murder mystery is only an insignificant part of the story.

One of the films main focuses is on the trust and loyalty that the couples share, particularly between Leon and Sonja. Sonja fears that Leon is cheating on her and Leon thinks that the romance they share is dead. Leon sees this not as an affair but just “A one night stand that happened twice.” This shows us that he doesn’t believe he’s seeing a woman for a ongoing affair, but rather, he thinks that a quickie wont interfere with his marriage and that he’s not breaking the trust they share as long as he only does it these one or two times. Valerie also says in her conference in the beginning of the film, “Trust is as vital to human relationships, as breath is to life” Showing us that trust is one of the many focuses of the film. Another couple that share a strong trust bond is Nik and Paula, these two trust each other more than anyone else in the film and tell each other everything. When Jane try’s to seduce Nik he tells Paula this casually as he had nothing to hide because he didn’t take her up on her offer. Even Paula doesn’t act in a serious way after Nik tells her, but in a playful tone she says back “Ever try to f*** up our marriage and I’ll cut your balls off and hang them on the line between your socks and jocks!” No sound is playing during this scene to emphasize the trust between and show that they can share anything without the other being to mad. The trust the couples share in the film has a strong focus to the plot, the film tends to focus more on character development more than the dead girl the film is supposedly based around.

The communication between the couples is another strong focus point in the film, some of the couples share long scenes of casual talking whilst others like Leon and Sonja only talk to each other about once or twice before Leon admits he has been cheating on her. The more communication between the couples, the stronger the bond between them seems to be. Valerie and Johns relationship is very quiet, a lot like Leons. These two rarely talk to each other and tend to avoid each other often. Even when they’re driving home together Valerie try’s to ask him: “I want to know what you’re thinking” Which shows us that she is desperate for some sort of communication with John. The rain falling in the background shows her sadness and desperation just to talk to her husband and look a normal couple. This shows us that communication is another strong point in the film, bearing as much weight as trust does. These two both overshadow the murder and show us that it only plays a small part in the film compared to the focus on the communication between the couples.