A Little Chaos

2015 "From incredible passion grows incredible beauty."
6.5| 1h57m| R| en
Details

A landscape gardener is hired by famous architect Le Nôtre to construct the grand gardens at the palace of Versailles. As the two work on the palace, they find themselves drawn to each other and are thrown into rivalries within the court of King Louis XIV.

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Reviews

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
studioAT Alan Rickman is one of the many talents we lost in 2016 and this was one of the few films he directed.It's not a fantastic film, more a collection of good moments that sadly never join up, but you can't fault Rickman or Kate Winslet, who shine when on screen.It was released in a year with a lot of other similar films, and perhaps that hurt it in terms of acclaim, as did the fact that the plot isn't the easiest to explain, but as I say, there are certainly moments within it that make it worth a watch.We miss Alan Rickman terribly.
The D'Ascoyne Family It's worth it just for one last glimpse of Alan Rickman in full uncomfortable sneer, the pained uncle, so wounded and so wise... And it's worth it for some other stuff too, including a Winslet somehow more mature, and some truly beautiful images from Rickman as director.But there's a sense that - like its late lamented director - the script of A Little Chaos could have given us so much more. Having decided for dramatic purposes to get so chaotic with the truth - in reality Le Notre the head gardener was decades older than the King, not t'other way round, and Winslet's radical female gardener simply didn't exist - the writers don't take much creative advantage.Perhaps lacking confidence in any of the strands, they try to throw in too much that remains undeveloped: the back-story of Winslet's family is worthily sad, but neither necessary nor developed into any explanation of her relationship to natural forces; supplanted mistress Jennifer Ehle's semi-secret court of wounded women is a surprising, haunting and beautiful moment, but basically a digression; Stanley Tucci is wasted; a couple of pat metaphors aside, the tension between order and chaos doesn't go anywhere.Structurally, Rickman the writer-director has made Rickman the actor part of the problem. Because from the opening scene we see the fragile warmth behind the monarchical mask - and because it's Alan Rickman and everyone knows that Professor Snape always secretly cares - he can't carry the kind of threat required of the capricious absolute ruler. If the King was still a distant authority, his scene with Winslet and the pear tree would be a moment of revelation and transformation; instead it's just pleasant and a bit poignant. And by then, there's no chance that he's going to be anything other than indulgent of the apparent hiccough of the waterlogged garden.There's a similar lost opportunity around Schoenaerts. His Le Notre doesn't develop at all. He's a bit snooty in his first scene, but after that he's just sort of romantically moody. The potential conflict and tension between a (much more) austere, order-obsessed Le Notre and a (more) wild and wilful Winslet is never realized. Because Madame Le Notre is such a horror, and promiscuous, and already signed up to an open relationship, there's no practical or moral obstacle to Schoenaerts and Winslet leaping into the shrubbery. There's no tension, and no sense of achievement.(And they don't even leap into the shrubbery. All that mud, and all that luscious fruit, and they finally get it on indoors, which seems rather a waste - as well as a defusing of the little passion there was.)Pruned (sorry) and chopped around a bit, the script would have more energy and grip. If Schoenaerts was really uncomfortable about Winslet's garden planning, and about the idea of betraying his wife, Winslet and the story would have something to aim at and work on. If Rickman seemed capable of ruining lives by banishment from employment in his Eden, the risks and tensions would have consequences and impact. Say Schoenaerts is still uncertain, about the funky horticulture and about Winslet, when the more perceptive Mrs Le Notre ruins the garden to forestall the threat of losing her husband; Schoenaerts and Winslet then have their moment of near-death near-passion in the tempest; Jennifer Ehle's boudoir then becomes a place of real refuge, from a very grumpy King and from the unknown result of the passion; the nicely-staged Mexican stand-off between the wounded ladies and the King's posse can then be a moment of real resolution - what if that's the moment when she realizes that the King who could be about to ruin her is the same mysterious figure she met under the pear tree? - when Winslet's spirit and argument must convince the King, and when Schoenaerts must decide to follow his heart and speak up for her. Instead Rickman denies himself a fitting farewell, and we're left wanting what might have been.https://thescripthack.wordpress.com
leplatypus Well, this movie was interesting for me as it involves the late « Severus Rogue » and the dear Kate but also because it explores the history of our french palace Versailles which is indeed a true location for stories (just visit it and you'll understand why !). In addition, we have a British opinion about french history so for a Frenchman like me, we can get something else than the usual yes propaganda ! Honestly, the movie is not that great as the pace is really slow, the romance really expected and the production a bit cheap (except for the costumes): i expected to be thrown into the XVII century and discovered the sumptuous look of Versailles, the old streets of Paris but the movie happens in this outdoor site and the interior sets are really few (Louvre, Fontainebleau)… Thus unlike the other movies that insist on baroque, grandiose, this one offers an almost intimate portray of the royals, that is at least honest when portraying their loose manners ! Rickman really excels being the king with his royal voice and restraint attitude and finds sometimes good visuals as the director. Finally, only the ultimate scene depicts the power of french royalty and it's a bit unfortunate that there wasn't more scenes like this !
Jacques Du Rand I really expected something quite different, but what I got was a beautifully crafted fantasy that pitched each and every moment just right. The thematic weave is extremely subtle and every single moment very carefully placed with an incredible sense of sensitivity for the human condition. The movie is delightful and deals with such an enormous amount of delicately sensitive human themes that I am awestruck at the director's ability to treat them with such a light hand that you never get the feeling that you are working to get through the story. A Little Chaos struck my nerves and my heart with quite a few story lines that I recognized from everyday life in the 21st century and managed to tell a story of our day to day lives, lived in a period knows for it's decadent overindulgence and careless waste. Very much like today but not with the political baggage of libertarianism, capitalism and human rights that has come to burden out every decision just like form and pompous did back in the good old days, when times were bad...Thus they place themes what many of us chew on, in a time that, even though it seems so far away, we can relate to. And within this they succeed in touching your heart as an viewer without striking a painful blow. The cinematography is brilliantly simple and exceptionally effective for a complex story made watchable, easy and fresh.