Um Pouco de Caos

"A Little Chaos" is a period costume drama based on a simple fictional plot. It is set in 1682-1683 during the reign of King Louis XIV. A female "builder" is chosen to create a special project in the royal gardens at Versailles. A romance develops over time between she and the master gardener, the architect of Versailles, who chose her for the task.

Most of the performances are fine, but nothing special. Many of the characters seem wooden in the scenes in the royal household. The three main characters are Sabine De Barra (Kate Winslet), André Le Notré (Matthias Schoenaerts), and King Louis (Alan Rickman). Rickman directed the film but doesn't seem to be able to coax any spark out of most of the characters.

The story moves between Madame De Barra's landscaping work, and her awkward introduction to the court of the king and royal society. In between that, her acquaintance with the master builder, Le Notré, evolves into a romance. Some of the women of the royal household add interest to the story, but much of the king's huge entourage is portrayed as a den of ladies of rank with male courtesans. This seems a curious twist that doesn't add much to the main plot. Of course, without that the film would have needed something else to fill the time slot.

But for the scenery, costumes and excellent camera work, "A Little Chaos" would be a royal bore for most.

While several of the characters are historically true, Madame De Barra and others are fictional. Le Notré was the landscape architect for King Louis. He began designing and building the gardens at Versailles in 1661, but he would have been 70 years old in 1683. The king's wife who died that year was Maria Theresa of Spain (1638-1683). She and Louis married in 1660 when they were both 21. She was 44 when she died on July 30, 1683.

Louis XIV was also known as Louis the Great. He had the longest sovereign reign in European history. It lasted from May 14, 1643 (when he was four years old) until his death at age 76 on Sept. 1, 1715. He began his personal rule of France in 1661 at age 18, after the death of his chief minister, the Italian Cardinal Mazarin. Louis reigned 72 years and 110 days. Scholars consider him one of the greatest rulers in history.

Besides his military and other conquests, King Louis XIV was also a royal philanderer. He is known to have fathered at least 22 children, six by his first wife, Maria Theresa.

Within a year of his first wife's death, Louis again married. His second wife was Francoise d'Aubigné, the Marquiese de Maintenon. She is Francoise Marie in the movie, played by Hope Hancock. Perhaps the most powerful woman in the king's entourage though, was Francoise-Ahtenais, the Marquise de Montespan. She bore Louis seven children from 1669 to 1678. Jennifer Ehle plays her in the movie. At least four other women bore nine children by Louis. All of these 22 offspring were legitimized by the king in time.

When Louis married again in 1683, he was 44 years old and his known philandering ended. The Marquises de Maintenon was a devout Catholic and had a strong influence on the king becoming more devout himself.

Without knowing something of the history and the court surrounding Louis XIV, much of this film set in the king's household is meaningless. A little knowledge of these people and of the reign of King Louis XIV adds some interest to this film. Otherwise, this is a slow movie, with much doting on flowers, other plants and landscaping. While gardeners may enjoy this, many others may find it boring.

OK, OK, the "professional" reviews are tepid, but for my taste, A Little Chaos is a perfect summertime movie. No heavy themes, impeccable acting (Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Stanley Tucci, and Alan Rickman), beautiful scenery, and gorgeous late 17th c. costumes. It's one of those movies where you can sink into the cushioned theater seats, breathe the welcome air-conditioning, and let the film wash over you. No heavy mental or emotional lifting required. The premise is that on a ridiculously short timetable and budget, France's Louis XIV, the Sun King, has decreed that paradisaical gardens be created to expand the grounds at his Versailles palace. Garden design has been placed in the reliable hands of André Le Nôtre (Schoenaerts), a proponent of order in the landscape. His plans include an elaborate display of fountains. But he needs help. After interviewing numerous candidates, he chooses the wildly fictional Madame Sabine de Barra (Winslet) to create the garden's ballroom, for the reason that she will introduce new ideas (a shaky premise, there)—and, as the title suggests, a little chaos. The two of them are attracted to each other, but have vastly different temperaments and face a fairly predictable set of obstacles. Critics who pooh-pooh the film as a failed feminist fable miss its many pleasures: the absurd courtiers, Stanley Tucci as the king's gay brother, the interplay among the women when they're alone behind closed doors, scenery to drool over, the joy of bringing dirt and greenery to beautiful life, and, especially, Alan Rickman playing Louis XIV—"a character worthy of his imperious, reptilian charisma," as Stephen Holden said in the New York Times. Rickman directed and helped write the film, too. "Acting should be about risky projects as much as it can be about entertaining," he told Joe Neumaier at the New York Daily News. "The risk is what makes you want to do it." Bringing to life characters from another culture and long-past century in a revisionist history confection is almost as risky as thinking you can make water dance. The real Salle de Bal (the Bosquet des Rocailles) at Versailles was inaugurated in 1685 and is the gardens' only surviving cascade. If you don't go with inflated expectations you won't be disappointed. You will be well pleased.

A Little Chaos (2014) is a British film co-written, starring, and directed by Alan Rickman. Rickman plays the French King Louis XIV, Matthias Schoenaerts plays the landscape architect André Le Notre, and Kate Winslet plays Sabine De Barra. Madame Like Le Notre, De Barra is also a landscape architect. She's hired by Le Notre to help with the magnificent gardens at Versailles. However, this isn't a movie about gardens or gardening. (In fact, Winslet says that, unlike her character, she's not really a gardener.)

The film is really about human emotions--love, hate, happiness, and sadness. The gardens are just the plot device that brings together all of the main characters in one place at one time.

Matthias Schoenaerts is excellent in this movie, as he was in "Far from the Madding Crowd." However, as Farmer Oak he had to be intelligent but grounded in the necessities of his situation. In "A Little Chaos," he has to have superior intelligence that soars with creative ideas and solutions.

Rickman is a fine actor. His perpetual sneer in the Harry Potter movies has been replaced almost by benevolence in this film. From what we know of the historical "Sun King," he wasn't exactly the kindly, gentle monarch that is portrayed in "A Little Chaos."

Kate Winslet is a wonderful actor, and she looks right for the role. Of course, she's beautiful, but her beauty is distinct, intelligent, and individual--she doesn't look like just another cookie-cutter movie star.

The plot is very tightly constricted--almost all of it takes place at the court in Versailles, which is a huge, but claustrophobic, setting. Everyone intrigues with everyone else, assignations are made, vows are made and betrayed, and no one can trust anyone.

What's interesting to me is that I was caught up in this atmosphere. I wanted to see De Barra complete her project. I couldn't understand why the king wouldn't put more money into the gardens at Versailles.

When I thought about it, I realized there isn't a single poor, miserable, hungry person shown in the film. The only non-elite characters we see are interchangeable servants, grooms, and garden assistants. They may not have a happy life, but at least they were paid and fed.

We know historically that the French poor suffered terrible hardships during this time. It was with taxes torn from them that Louis XIV paid for his gardens at Versailles. However, as was probably true in real life in 17th Century France, the nobles were protected and insulated from the people and their suffering. That's the way this film is structured--we see the politics at court, and we see the garden moving forward, but we don't see the squalor of ordinary life. There's no remedy for this. Your only choice as a viewer is to take it or leave it. You can't change it.

We saw this movie at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester, NY. It will work somewhat better on the large screen, but it will work well enough on DVD. I recommend it, despite its drawbacks.

As I write this review, the movie has a horrendous 6.3 rating. It's interesting that women gave it a 6.7, while men gave it a 6.0. Nothing about the film suggested to me that it would be much more popular among woman than among men.

Although this isn't a superb movie, I don't think a rating of 6.3 does justice to it. I think it's worth seeing, and I would recommend it.

Unfortunately, A Little Chaos has limited distribution. It was only showing in one theater where I live in downtown. I could have taken public transit and walked five blocks to get to the venue but kept putting it off. Good that I did, because A Little Chaos is currently streaming on Amazon with a run time of 1:53 minutes.

It's an interesting and unique story about a woman named Sabine, who has a gift for gardening. Yes, she has a quaint little backyard of flowers and trees, but her real talent is that of a landscape artist. She applies for the opportunity to work in the gardens of Versailles.

After obtaining the position, she is charged by the head architect, Andre (played by Matthias Schoenaerts who was just in Far From the Madding Crowd), to work on a special project that the two eventually design together. The fact that Sabine was a woman of great talent did not mean that her task was an easy one, but it was eventually successful.

However, underneath Sabine is a woman of great sadness. She is a widow and has also lost her daughter of six years of age. Ther reason for her family's passing isn't revealed until the end of the movie. How it occurs is heartbreaking, so I won't spoil that part in case you decide to watch the movie.

Of course, Andre, who is unhappily married to another woman, who possesses less than a stellar character, falls in love with Sabine. At first she resists because of her sorrow from the past, but eventually discovers solace and comfort in his arms.

Kate Winslet does the movie great charm. Her portrayal of Sabine is nothing but brilliant as all her movies. There is one particular scene that literally brought me to tears where she is among a group of women from the King's court. The ladies sit together and talk about what ladies talk about, but the conversation turns toward whether she is married and has children. Sabine, of course, can barely choke out the truth, and it is then that the majority of the woman in the room relay to her their sorrow of lost children of their own due to smallpox or other tragedies. It is so touching, I could barely keep from crying. Sabine is deeply moved when she realizes that she is not the only woman carrying such a deep burden of grief.

As the movie continues, you are made aware of her gracious character, wisdom, and kindness to others that eventually lead her to a road of healing. Yes, the movie is about the gorgeous gardens of Versailles, but it also much more. The story is rich with sidelines about others who are close to the King as well.

Alan Rickman plays Louis, but he also directs the movie. As beautifully touching as the story is at times, you may find it a bit slow in movement. There is construction of her portion of the garden, her interaction with the King and his court, her blossoming love for Andre, that all move toward the end at a leisurely pace. Some may like it -- some may not. I wanted to push it a bit myself but later scenes redeemed whatever discomfort I felt while waiting for the story to unfold.

You will see many characters played by British actors that you will recognize - Rupert Penry-Jones (Captain Wentworth in Jane Austen's Persuasion); Steven Waddington (who played the Duke of Buckingham in The Tudors); Adrian Scarborough (who has done his share of British television roles including Midsomer Murders); Stanely Tucci (who has been in plenty of movie roles that you can remember); and many other well-known faces. What you may find a bit unsettling is the majority of the cast lacking French accents from British and American actors, however, there are a few women who do have one.

Nevertheless, the costumes are quite stunning as well as the scenery and sets. The production was filmed in England at nine locations (click here to see where), including Hampton Court, which I immediately recognized the exterior and interior.

If you're looking for a touching, but not spectacular period movie, you may want to check this one out.

It was the perfect film to take my elderly mother to, given that we both enjoy gardening holidays in France.

The story is uncomplicated - in a time when gardens were the fashion statement of the rich, the French king wanted a statement to silence the globe. Matthias Schoenaerts' character is given this task which is mammoth given the bogland to be used and he hires Kate Winslet's character for one element of the garden. They fancy each other.

Alan Rickman has a few key scenes but Stanley Tucci steals the show entirely. Costumes and setting are lavish, as they should be.

I cannot comment on the historical accuracy but my immediate thought was 'How does she garden with the corset on when I wear nothing under my t-shirt?' As a gardener, nothing is ever done (weeding, composting, planting etc.) but this project did appear to have a somewhat finite end, which is a fantasy in itself.

More historical dramas with a gardening theme I say!