Lantana

What is so striking about these DVD extras is personified by the words of Kerry Armstrong: "There ain't no bullshit in this production."

The Nature Of Lantana contains minimal behind-the-scenes rehearsal sequences, with edited interviews, involving most of the cast and crew. Writer Andrew Bovell says the film is "about the yearning for meaning." Barbara Hershey calls it "an adult mystery." Anthony LaPaglia describes Leon's situation as "when you wake up one morning and ask, 'How the hell did this become my life?'" Director Ray Lawrence underplays his contribution by insisting that "the style comes out of what I can find in the performances."

All agree that Bovell's adaptation from his play - he explains why the name was changed from Speaking In Tongues - exceeded expectation. Jan Chapman, who produces Jane Campion's movies, says she had "one of the best responses from any script," even though finding the funds for something so unformulaic was desperately difficult. Geoffrey Rush says that "most scripts are like recipe books; it depends what they do with it." LaPaglia admired the detail. "Most scripts are broad strokes," he says. Armstrong invites the camera into Sonya's home, where Lawrence is asleep in an armchair, explaining how they decided on which side of the bed she would sleep and the importance of the kitchen chairs in the dynamic of her screen family.

None of this cut-down documentary is superfluous and the collective IQ of those involved seems impressively high.

DVD features like these are so intelligent that anyone harbouring doubts about the movie will be won over instantly. It's not that Lawrence, Bovell and Chapman are trying to sell their product to a bemused public. It's just that they talk about what they do and how the movie evolved and the experience of working with a dream cast with such passion that it's impossible not to be enthralled.

The commentary is less of a three way stretch and more of a running debate about integrity in cinema, the creative input from all and sundry and whether something as honest as this can be acceptable to audiences spoon fed feelgood romance.

Lawrence comes across as a man whose dedication to the craft of filmmaking supercedes personal ambition. His humility is generous. "This is one of the best casts I will ever work with," he says. "It's a piece of Australian history." He remembers that LaPaglia and Armstrong rehearsed their sex scenes in track suits. "Anthony didn't like to be touched."

Bovell says that he was "searching to reveal the complexity" of long term relationships. This is a film about the meaning of love, despite appearing to attack it with cynicism and distrust. He is fascinating about what needed to be cut and changed from the original play and why. The collaborative nature of the work is well expressed.

When the movie came out in Australia, it was accused of "responding to Magnolia and yet the script was written long before Magnolia," which only emphasises the danger of critics, leaping to conclusions without sufficient knowledge. Chapman was attracted to the script because it tackled fundamental truths. "The difficulty in a long relationship is to make intimacy last." That's one of the themes and yet "the pleasure should be in the details."

The slogan on the poster is "Sometimes love's not enough." Ditto this commentary. You are left wanting more.