Plot
Two talented landscape artists become romantically entangled while building a garden in King Louis XIV's palace at Versailles.
Release Year: 2014
Rating: 6.3/10 (1,354 voted)
Critic's Score: 51/100
Director: Alan Rickman
Stars: Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, Stanley Tucci
Storyline
A romantic drama following Sabine, a talented landscape designer, who is building a garden at Versailles for King Louis XIV. Sabine struggles with class barriers as she becomes romantically entangled with the court's renowned landscape artist.
Writers: Jeremy Brock, Alison Deegan
Cast: Thomas Allam -
Louis Alexander
Alan Rickman -
King Louis XIV
Hope Hancock -
Francoise Marie
Isabella Steinbarth -
Louise Francoise
Hal Hewetson -
Philippe
Carolina Valdés -
Queen Marie-Therese
Eleanor Montgomery -
Royal Nurse
Matthias Schoenaerts -
André Le Notre
Danny Webb -
Moulin
Kate Winslet -
Sabine De Barra
Cathy Belton -
Louise
Steven Waddington -
Thierry Duras
Adrian Scarborough -
Daniel Le Vielle
Adrian Schiller -
Jean Risse
Ben Fox -
Monsieur Mauve
Filming Locations: Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia: Kate Winslet's daughter Mia appears in a scene at the Louvre. She is sitting on a chair alone when Sabine walks into the room before a crowd of people follow. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 9/10
Belying its title, this is a charmingly well-ordered 'chamber-piece'
movie about the creation of Louis XIV's spectacular grounds at
Versailles. Landscape architect Andre Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts)
recruits - a surprise in 17th-century society - a woman to design one
of the garden's water features. Sabine De Barra (Kate Winslet) is a
widow; Andre is married to a heartless slut (Helen McCrory); so we can
expect something more than potting to be happening in the potting shed
before the gardens are finished! 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. There's no attempt to
"Frenchify" the language in the style of 'Allo 'Allo: everyone speaks
accentless English. Alan Rickman (who also directed) plays the king in
the grand style of Lady Bracknell, and Winslet is perfectly cast as a
woman of substance and quiet wisdom. Belgium's Monsieur Schoenaerts is
having a busy year and although this is role is similar to the one he
had in SUITE FRANCAISE he seems more comfortable in it this time.
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. If you liked THE DUCHESS, you
will love this.
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