A Little Chaos

Plot synopsis:
After being given responsibility by King Louis XIV of France for designing and building the Gardens of Versailles, André Le Nôtre interviews candidates for the project, one of whom is a woman with an unconventional sense of gardening, Sabine de Barra. When noticing her move a potted plant in his garden prior to her interview, André confirms Sabine is not a conformist in gardening. She tells him she wants to give them something uniquely French and not follow classical and renaissance models.
On the night after her interview, André surprises Sabine at her home and tasks her with responsibility for an outdoor ballroom surrounded by a fountain and landscaping. André's plans had called for a constant supply of water from a great distance at great expense. Sabine devises an alternate engineering solution based on a reservoir from which water can be continuously recycled through the fountains she has designed. She makes little progress at first because she uses workers recommended by those who lost the contract to her and hope to see her fail. One of them, however, Thierry Duras, intervenes and offers his crew's help.
Sabine is soon noticed by the elite at court and is befriended by the King's brother Duc Philippe d'Orleans and his wife Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine. At several points as the story develops, Sabine is haunted by brief glimpses of a young girl in white or a girl's voice she hears calling. She appears incapable of demonstrating her romantic feelings for André, who suffers from his marriage to the haughty Madame Françoise Le Nôtre, who insists on her right to take lovers and tells her husband he has only achieved professional success because of her influence at court. She has insisted on her sexual freedom, but when she challenges his interest in Sabine, he quotes her own speech of freedom back at her and becomes resolute in his intention to pursue a relationship with Sabine.
Queen Maria Theresa dies suddenly. André informs his wife, who is shaken at the prospect that this will lessen her influence at court. The king is shocked at the loss of his wife and takes refuge in contemplating plants, one of his great sensual and aesthetic pleasures, in his gardener's work area. Sabine accidentally encounters the king there, first mistaking him for the gardener, and then when he reveals his identity she befriends him and offers him the consolations of nature. She finds great favour in the king's eyes, and he invites her to travel with him and his court to his palace and gardens at Fontainebleau.
On a stormy day, Louis XIV visits Sabine's work site and assesses the project skeptically but decided to allow it to proceed. After he leaves with his retinue, Sabine is visited by Françoise, who tells her that André's passionate intentions are only a whim and will prove short-lived. After she and Sabine each depart, Françoise's lover opens the sluice gates from the reservoir and floods the work site, destroying much of the earthworks and plants.
In the partly destroyed works site, André finds a glove that he recognizes as belonging to his wife Françoise. He returns the glove to her, indicating he is aware of her role in the destruction of Sabine's work, and ending their relationship.
Sabine goes to King's court and meets Duc de Lauzun, who introduces her to the king's mistress, the Marquise de Montespan, who in turn introduces her to the women of the court. They greet her warmly and invite her into their discussion of topics the king forbids at court, notably death, especially the death of their children. Sabine reveals her enduring pain at the loss of her husband and daughter. When the King and his male entourage arrives, the Marquise presents Sabine to him. Sabine offers him a four-seasons flower, which inspires a conversation between the King and Sabine on the metaphorical nature of the rose and its life cycle, a metaphor intended to warm him toward his mistress.
André waits for Sabine outside her room that night, having fallen completely in love with her. Sabine lets go of her remorse for her husband's death years ago, and they finally make love. In the morning, André finds himself alone in bed. The scene jumps to Sabine years earlier during the events leading to the death of her daughter and adulterous husband. He admits his adultery and leaves to visit his mistress with his daughter along in the carriage. Sabine sees that the carriage has a faulty wheel and races after the carriage calling for it to stop. She rushes in front of the carriage, the coachman pulls on the reins, the wheel breaks and the carriage topples off the road and down a hill, killing both father and daughter. André finds Sabine in the grip of this memory and convinces her to stop blaming herself for their deaths.
Sabine's fountain-arena project is complete. The king and his court arrive to evaluate and inaugurate it. To the music of a hidden orchestra, the king and the court, including Sabine and André, enter and dance on the center ballroom surface, as the fountains send water coursing down the tiers surrounding the dancing surface.

Tags: flashback

Review:
Rickman plays the French King Louis XIV, Matthias Schoenaerts plays the landscape architect André Le Notre, and Kate Winslet plays Sabine De Barra.
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.
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.
There's a lovely scene when Sabine finds King Louis (Alan Rickman) alone and unwigged on a bench and mistakes him for the chief gardener.I worried that A LITTLE CHAOS might be like one of Peter Greenaway's movies, a triumph of style over substance, but it's got almost as much substance as an Oscar Wilde adaptation.
Stanley Tucci and Jennifer Ehle play the top dogs/bitches in His Majesty's court and I'd like to have seen more of them both.OK this movie is a bit overdone and artificial (like the gardens at Versailles), but the cast are believable and lovable, and the story delivers comedy, romance and intrigue.
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.
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.
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.
No heavy themes, impeccable acting (Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Stanley Tucci, and Alan Rickman), beautiful scenery, and gorgeous late 17th c.
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.
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.
I just wish I enjoyed it more.There really was a King of France named Louis XIV who built an impressive palace in the Paris suburb of Versailles and surrounded it with spectacular gardens which included an outdoor ballroom, but he didn't look like Hans Gruber from "Die Hard" and young Rose from "Titanic" was not involved.
Nevertheless, Alan Rickman (who also wrote and directed this film) plays The Sun King and Kate Winslet plays a fictional woman named Sabine De Barra, who the movie shows receiving a commission to design and build the outdoor ballroom portion of the gardens at Versailles.
Of course, she's working for a male landscape artist named André Le Nôtre (the real life royal landscaper), played by Matthias Schoenaerts.Rather than just showing the building of the gardens as it actually happened, the film adds interest and intrigue to the true story with the creation of Winslet's character.
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..
Modestly enjoyable but unexceptional.Set at the court of the French King Louis XIV (Alan Rickman) in Versailles (but wholly shot at some splendid British locations), this a well-intentioned, mildly feminist work that presents a woman landscape designer - the fictional Sabine de Barra (Kate Winslet) - in a world (like most) dominated by men such as the real-life Andreé Le Nôtre (Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts).
Not only does she cause a little chaos in the gardens, but in the court where, in a surprising couple of scenes, she discovers and exposes the sexism and ageism towards the female aristocracy.At one level, this is Rickman's film: it is only the second he has directed, he contributed to the script, and he steals certain scenes as the Sun King.
Schoenaerts plays Andre Le Notre, the real landscape architect who designed the park of Versailles for King Louis XIV.
In this romantic historical, Kate Winslet plays Sabine De Barra an imaginative landscape designer who breaks the convention of "order" and is hired to build a garden at Versailles for King Louis XIV, played by Alan Rickman, also the film's director.Kate Winslet was absolutely lovely in this film along with Matthias Schoenaerts (Far from the Maddening Crowd) who I predict will be blowing up movie screens with his strong, yet quiet presence on-screen.
Although I enjoyed the perfect acting of the different actors in the film, Kate Winslet is remarkable as usual, Matthias Schoenaerts is perfect in the role of Le Nôtre as well as Rickman a great actor as usual, not to forget to mention the very and only concordant personification of Stanley Tucci in Philippe d'Orléans, I was really disappointed by this movie and there is no nationalism whatsoever in my critic.
The "Win-against-all-odds" plot is highly predictable and really not much.The love story comes somewhat inevitable and - although nicely played by Winslet and Schoenaerts - does not really add to excitement; it has hardly any twists and turns.The gardening aspect could be interesting, but without in-depth knowledge of the history of garden architecture, we viewers are kept at loss to see why Mme de Barra's concepts might have been groundbreaking to gardening.For an breathtaking period drama the visuals are too modest and small.Personally, I would have liked to take this little episode as the exemplary and decisive turning point in the history of the ancien régime.
6.5 Okay, first, here is what I liked: Costumes, sets, and cinematography that kept me watching the full two hours Kate Winslet's acting Alan Rickman's diction What did not work for me: Sketchy, slight story for 2 hours.
Rickman also directed the movie and he did cover the period well, with the amazing costumes and great cinematography but the script was weak and the love story was predictable and corny.
Kate Winslet hasn't really hit the heights that she had, after starring in Titanic, the biggest film ever but she has put in some great performances in movies like Revolutionary Road, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Carnage and Little Children.
Anyway, the movie was put together well but the script wasn't that great.Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $4millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their period dramas about 2 architects who fall in love whilst making a garden for King Louis XIV.
That was the inspiring part of the movie.The film has beautiful shots of Versailles and how people worked in those days with nice costumes that supported the scenes very well.
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.
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.
Am a big fan of Alan Rickman, one of the biggest acting inspirations of my childhood (mostly for Snape in the 'Harry Potter' films and 'Sense and Sensibility', but getting older love even more in 'Die Hard' playing one of the greatest screen villains).
The concept sounded nice enough and the cast (with Kate Winslet, Stanley Tucci, Matthias Schoenaets, Helen McCrory and Rickman himself) are immensely talented.'A Little Chaos' is one of those films that has people liking it but judging from the mixed critical reception it is one of those films that hasn't clicked with everybody.
Couldn't help feeling emotional too, knowing that it was one of Rickman's last roles and projects, 2015's very good 'Eye in the Sky' being his last (he's excellent in that), before his ultimely death two years ago.Getting the flaws out of the way, there are parts that drag a little and are a little muddled as a result of the story being very slight with not an awful lot to it.
This is often passed over in silence but many workers died during those titanic (no pun intended) works:sometimes crushed under blocks ,they had to drain the swamps:a suicide because of the mosquitoes who transmitted marsh fever ,in other words,Paludism:men fell like flies.Saint-Simon talks about wagons of corpses ;they forced the workers into this living hell ,they had to live on the spot and were not allowed to see their wives and kids anymore ;some of them rebelled and threw blocks onto the foremen from the scaffolds ;the king called on the army.Many men were sentenced to death and hanged .Les Jardins Du Roy,it's a paradise (as depicted by the Sun King himself in the movie),but it's also that.Let's be lenient for the historical mistakes :Le Nôtre was 25 older than Louis XIV -and was not the vivacious handsome landscape gardener who woos Madame De Barra .He would not begin,in the kingdom of France , his letter with the word 'dear"!!Madame De Barra is pure fiction :one cannot imagine,at the time ,a female landscape architect -think that a hundred years later ,mathematician Sophie Germain had to take a male pseudonym to be able to continue her work on prime numbers- is thoroughly implausible ;it takes all Mrs Winslet's talent to make the character endearing.On the plus side ,in spite of an obvious lack of means (we are in the grandiose court of the Sun King,all the same!) ,there's an interesting depiction of the atmosphere of the courtiers;It's the first time I've seen a portrayal of Philippe D'Orleans ,Monsieur Frère Du Roi ,in accordance with historian Philippe Erlanger's book,which was not so in previous "Vatel" ,let alone the "Angélique Marquise Des Anges" saga : he is gay but his second wife ,La Princesse Palatine depicts him as " a brave man at war ,generous with the defeated ";actually they mutually agreed they would sleep apart,after she gave birth to heirs .A nice cinematography(superb finale) ,good acting by the whole cast ,let's forget history,and let's not deny ourselves a good moment..
André Le Nôtre (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a respected landscaping working for King Louis XIV of France (Alan Rickman) after his mother Queen's death.
The story juices up a fictitious character, Sabine de Barra (Winslet), a widow and unconventional horticulturist, to the life of landscapist maestro André Le Nôtre (Schoenaerts), who is appointed by King Louis XIV of France (Rickman) for the demanding task of designing gardens of Versailles.Whenever a well-known thespian takes a crack at the director chair, one's knee-jerking reaction might be, is it a one-off deal as a personal vanity project running off the rail or, in a rarer case, an endeavour truly resonates with the right vibe.
On the contrary, the film stay calms, most thoroughly, a prosaic but righteously refrained emotional arc trickles in unhurriedly, owing to an unshowy methodology of the main cast (Stanley Tucci's preferentially homosexual Duke Philippe d'Orleans and Jennifer Ehle's effervescent Madame De Montespan are the exceptions), Winslet is ever so plain, detached, sometimes even absent-minded, in channelling a woman obsessed with a past tragedy and when eventually a new romance catches up with her, she must uncover her carefully concealed wound in order to move on.Schoenaerts is currently the go-to guy for British period outputs, he emerges even more reserved than in FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (2015), his André is almost too rational to carry conviction in this storybook tale (in reality, he should be around seventy during the time), all the more, he is completely devoid of any detectable emotion during the heightened two- hander between him and Madame Françoise Le Nôtre (a deliciously devious McCrory), there must be a thin fine line between unresponsiveness and strategic downplaying.Well, the best of pick, is naturally, Mr. Rickman himself, handsomely juggles between Louis XIV's monarchical grandeur and his more humane side with a poker face, particularly in the scenes shared with Winslet, a belated reunion between Colonel Brandon and Marianne Dashwood, it accurately strikes the soft spot of the dewy-eyed.A LITTLE CHAOS, where the chaos is mostly buried underneath the surface, is a quaintly small- scaled drama-romance, a thoroughly-stewed course pandered to those suckers for period production who has an even-tempered heart..
I did not believe any of the characters, I will overlook the Frenchman who spoke with a thick Northern English accent, but if this was an amateur play, maybe I could forgive it, but these are well known seasoned actors and no one seemed convincing at all.Kate Winslet was particularly dull, I am sure she was almost asleep in some scenes but the main problem was that nothing lifted the film from being so very dull.The sabotage scene was almost interesting, but even that was as wet as the garden project became.I cannot understand why anyone liked this dull, dreary, lifeless movie..
I really liked the fact that Rickman created a very fictional female character from the 17th century who is a landscape architect (Kate Winslet) and is building a garden at Versailles for King Louis XIV (Alan Rickman).
I really liked their shared scenes and dialogues, it gives a warm touch to the storyline.Kate Winslet really shows here that no matter how many actresses want, or properly said, get to play roles in period dramas, she is still the number 1 in these kind of films.
Alan Rickman struts his stuff as writer (with Alison Deegan and Jeremy Brock), director , and actor (he plays King Louis XIV) in this love story loosely based on the creation of the gardens of Versailles.
But it is refreshing to see an old fashioned love story presented without potty mouth dialog and X rated sex – just simplicity and fine acting.The plot is a romantic drama following Sabine de Barra (Kate Winslet), a talented landscape designer, who is building a garden at Versailles for King Louis XIV (Alan Rickman).
Kate Winslet plays the fictional landscape gardener Madame Sabine de Barra, hired to create a water feature at Versailles.
Her work defies conventions of the time and Madame Sabine falls for the master designer André Le Nôtre even though she is haunted by her past.The film was directed by Alan Rickman, who also co-wrote it and plays the Sun King.
Still, to enjoy this movie, one needs to avoid adopting a judgmental stance of condemning the outrageous extravagance of royalty, but focus on the appreciation of beauty and art and the admiration of the protagonist, a female architect by the name of Sabine De Barra, so brilliantly portrayed by Kate Winslet.Without belaboring the details, I'll just report that the simple plot surrounds Louis XIV's (Alan Rickman) wish to have created something of an esthetic perfection in the form of gardens in the lavish Palace of Versailles.
"Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream of man." - Henry Adams"A Little Chaos" stars Alan Rickman as Louis XIV, a French king who hires landscaper Andre Le Nortre to design a lavish garden.
She and master Gardener Andre de Notre are attracted to each other, but de Notre is married.Alan Rickman directs (and stars as Louis), Kate Winslet is Mme de Barra, current flavour of the month Matthias Schoenaerts is de Notre, and the supporting cast includes Stanley Tucci, Helen McCrory and Jennifer Ehle, the film is handsomely mounted and beautifully photographed.
To put it another way, "But it's slow and often boring." There are a couple of pleasing scenes – one between Winslet and Rickman when she thinks he's the Head Gardener at Versailles, and one between Winslet and the women of the Court, which is rather touching.
The film was directed and co-written by Alan Rickman, who plays King Louis XIV of France.Kate Winslet is (looking quite buxom and older than I remember her) quite good here as the gardener.
Le Nôtre observes this from a high window and later comments on her use of "a little chaos" in her designs.Alan Rickman, who also wrote and directed, is King Louis XIV.
This is a low key romance set in the court at Versailles under Louis XIV, the Sun King, played by Rickman himself in support.
The main thrust of the story is a romance between gardener Kate Winslet and a landscape artist in the king's employ.