The only thing that works in this film are the shots of building the grand garden ampetheater for King Louis. Quite a nice garden I must say. Came for the garden building, stayed for the garden building. The actors seemed like cows around the pasture. Story? Oh, no silly don't expect that here.
A little chaos is a film set in the time of Louis XIV, which mixes elements of pure fiction with historical facts.
The main character of the story is Sabine De Barra (Kate Winslet), an exterior designer who is summoned by the king’s gardener, André Le Nôtre (Matthias Schoenaerts), to give life to a magnificent garden in the palace of Versailles.
Although the style of Le Nôtre is more tied to symmetry and rules, while that of Sabine to chaos (she, in fact, makes her creations blend harmoniously with the surrounding nature), the two manage to create the most beautiful ballroom outdoor dance ever existed.
Sabine de Barra is a complex character, traumatized by a past that she has not managed to overcome yet. Le Nôtre is, instead, a man perpetually under pressure because of the power that the king and his wife have over him. The two will find comfort in each other not without difficulty.
I did not particularly appreciate the acting of Kate Winslet even though it was considered very good by the critics. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by that of Alan Rickman, who made sporadic appearances as Louis XIV and by Jennifer Ehle as the king’s lover.
The themes of the movie are many, but that of feminism is more prominent, things that make the film modern. The protagonist herself is a completely invented character that could not have existed in that environment. This choice represents the current progress against the patriarchal society and the will to give back women the long denied importance.
The rhythm of the narration is sometimes slow even if overall it is a successful movie.
The costumes are wonderful and the locations quite adequate despite the fact the film was shot entirely in London and never in France. The title of the film, in fact, in addition to indicating the mixture of the styles of the two royal gardeners, one characterized by rules and the other by chaos, also represents the chaos that is generated when an English film plays French. Furthermore, A little chaos can also indicate the chaos that reigned in the court of Louis XIV, especially regarding love affairs and adultery.
Having seen this film after the death of its director made me feel much more melancholy than the film itself wants to be. The figure of the king, with his problems, arouses great empathy and, above all in the scene of the flowered garden and in the final scene, it is possible to grasp the depth of the character and the immensity acting of the actor.
In short, it is a film that, despite its low budget, manages to establish itself in the heart of the viewer and to give it a few hours of pure beauty.
A fictional period drama following the work of Sabine de Barra (Kate Winslet), a landscape gardener tasked with making the outdoor ballroom at Versailles. She falls for her superior, and has to contend with class barriers as well as memories from her past.
This is well trodden territory, especially in British cinema; the period piece is a staple of the industry. It’s a shame then that this film brings very little new material to the table. The plot straddles an interesting line between fantasy and reality; the ballroom is real as are many of the characters in the film, but the lead character is not.
However, the film never exploits any of the opportunities this might present, instead choosing to stay grounded in a boring version of reality. Why make a boring fictional character when you might as well tell the story as it actually happened?
Winslet is likeable in her role, as are the supporting cast, but overall this is an uninspired piece of work from Rickman. A Little Chaos gets caught between the garden, the social workings of the elite and the romance between De Barra and her colleague. The end result is a confused film that fails to commit either way. A wishy-washy wisp of a movie.
http://benoliver999.com/film/2015/11/08/alittlechaos/
Kate Winslet's performance was outstanding, same goes for Alan Rickman :D both amazing actors :)
A bit chaotic but I'll watch anything with Kate Winslet in it.
Shout by FinFanBlockedParent2015-09-19T09:43:30Z
I wouldn´t say it´s a bad movie but on the other hand after watching it I also couldn´t find any reason why I should recommend it to anyone.
It´s a story about a fictional character so authenticity is not the issue, actors performance is good also personally I wouldn´t go as far as to say it was outstanding. And I say that as a Kate Winslet fan. The movie, in huge parts, just plays along without peaking anywhere. After reading the plot above I must say that it builds expectations that the movie itself just doesn´t delivers.