Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysAPA Heritage MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)

Chaos

  • 20012001
  • 1h 49m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Chaos (2001)
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Crime
One night by accident, a young prostitute barges into the lives of a bourgeois, modern-but-conventional couple. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the h... Read allOne night by accident, a young prostitute barges into the lives of a bourgeois, modern-but-conventional couple. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well-off lady, first for her survival--her resurrection--then for her dignity and... Read allOne night by accident, a young prostitute barges into the lives of a bourgeois, modern-but-conventional couple. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well-off lady, first for her survival--her resurrection--then for her dignity and freedom. Stormy encounters are forecast for everyone involved.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Coline Serreau
  • Writer
    • Coline Serreau
  • Stars
    • Vincent Lindon
    • Catherine Frot
    • Rachida Brakni
Top credits
  • Director
    • Coline Serreau
  • Writer
    • Coline Serreau
  • Stars
    • Vincent Lindon
    • Catherine Frot
    • Rachida Brakni
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 31User reviews
    • 34Critic reviews
    • 81Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 wins & 4 nominations

    Photos9

    Chaos (2001)
    Chaos (2001)
    Chaos (2001)
    Chaos (2001)
    Chaos (2001)
    Chaos (2001)
    Chaos (2001)
    Chaos (2001)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Vincent Lindon
    Vincent Lindon
    • Paulas Paul
    Catherine Frot
    Catherine Frot
    • Hélèneas Hélène
    Rachida Brakni
    Rachida Brakni
    • Noémieas Noémie…
    Line Renaud
    Line Renaud
    • Mamieas Mamie
    Aurélien Wiik
    Aurélien Wiik
    • Fabriceas Fabrice
    Ivan Franek
    Ivan Franek
    • Toukias Touki
    Michel Lagueyrie
    • Marsatas Marsat
    Wojciech Pszoniak
    Wojciech Pszoniak
    • Palias Pali
    • (as Wojtek Pszoniak)
    Eric Poulain
    • Le jeune policieras Le jeune policier
    Omar-Echériff Attalah
    • Tarekas Tarek
    Hajar Nouma
    • Zoraas Zora
    Chloé Lambert
    Chloé Lambert
    • Florenceas Florence
    Marie Denarnaud
    Marie Denarnaud
    • Charlotteas Charlotte
    Jean-Marc Stehlé
    Jean-Marc Stehlé
    • Blanchetas Blanchet
    Léa Drucker
    Léa Drucker
    • Nicoleas Nicole
    Nicolas Serreau
    • Le barmanas Le barman
    Simon Bakhouche
    • Henrias Henri
    Jean-Loup Michou
    • Type #1as Type #1
    • Director
      • Coline Serreau
    • Writer
      • Coline Serreau
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

    More like this

    Those Who Remain
    6.9
    Those Who Remain
    La crise
    6.8
    La crise
    Un air de famille
    7.4
    Un air de famille
    Fear and Trembling
    7.0
    Fear and Trembling
    Lovers Like Us
    6.6
    Lovers Like Us
    Orchestra Seats
    6.7
    Orchestra Seats
    Love Me No More
    7.0
    Love Me No More
    Family Life
    7.6
    Family Life
    A Few Days with Me
    6.9
    A Few Days with Me
    RTT
    4.9
    RTT
    The Green Planet
    7.2
    The Green Planet
    Place Vendôme
    6.1
    Place Vendôme

    Storyline

    Edit
    One night by accident, a young prostitute barges into the lives of a bourgeois, modern-but-conventional couple. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well-off lady, first for her survival--her resurrection--then for her dignity and freedom. Stormy encounters are forecast for everyone involved. —<aelsilva@studiocanal.com>
    • revenge
    • rape and revenge
    • marseille france
    • pimp
    • hospital
    • 45 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Crime
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Visa d'exploitation en France #90446.
    • Soundtracks
      Dub experience
      (1991)

      Composed by Ludovic Navarre

      Performed by Ludovic Navarre (as St Germain)

    User reviews31

    Review
    Top review
    Well done, but preaches to the converted
    It has been said that satire should be like a very sharp razor blade: you don't know you've been cut until you see the blood. The same thing can be said of movies with a social agenda: it's better if you don't see it coming, which makes it all the more effective when it's over. If only filmmakers that preach their social or political views had a better sense of knowing when to stop `preaching', and let the audience draw their own conclusions, we'd have more movies with positive social messages.

    Case in point is the film, `Chaos', by Coline Serreau, who presents a fairy tail story that celebrates, glorifies and idolizes the strength and perseverance of women in a male-dominated society. The main plot revolves around two women: Helene, an upper-middle class French woman, and Malika, a young prostitute. The two meet when Helene and her husband accidentally encounter Malika being violently attacked by a group of men. The couple witness this from inside their car, but the husband doesn't want to help or have anything to do with the girl, who's been left for dead. Helene, overwhelmed with guilt, decides to visits Malika in the hospital, against her husband's strict instructions. As Malika slowly regains consciousness, and her physical strength returns, the women grow closer, and the story behind the mysterious heroine unfolds. And, like a blooming flower, so does the magnitude of the story line, which becomes far too complicated to summarize here. (It's also far more involved than it needed to be for the plot or social commentary.)

    Suffice to say, the story is all about Malika's and all the female characters' struggles to find individuality and freedom from under the thumb of the men in their lives. But the film doesn't stop there - it also makes observations (and hence, commentary) about French society, Muslim cultures, and a variety of other aspects of modern life. Attempting to serve all these objectives, the film tends to meander from one character to another, and one political statement to another, so it can squeeze it all in. This ends up overcomplicating things to a minor degree, but in the end, the movie is really all about women and their plight, and the movie makes no excuses or apologies about that.

    For Helene, it's as simple as her leaving her good-for-nothing, ego-centric husband. For Malika, though, her first barrier is her patriarchic Muslim family, who stymied her attempts to educate herself or make a better life. Then it's her father, who tried to sell her to a man in Algeria for marriage. When she ran away just before her scheduled departure, she found herself under the influence of a pimp, who forced her into prostitution, drugged and raped her, and beat her relentlessly, over and over. Things get worse and worse for all the women in the film, major and minor characters alike, until things come to a head, when (surprise) all women come together and win, and all the men lose in a big, big way.

    The film's use of satire is exaggeration and extremes, but you don't necessarily see that in one character alone, but all the characters as a collective. All the men are evil, and all the women are glorified. This use of two-dimensional character portrayal gives away the otherwise obvious moral agenda of the film; it also draws attention to the unsophisticated satirical vehicles normally employed by much less experienced filmmakers. It's almost as though Serreau gets so lost in her own agenda that she forgets the true nature of cutting satire. When events develop so transparently and obviously, you can't help but know that this film is only trying to preach to the converted.

    Effective satire is about making acute and keen observations of real people, subtly leading us to the filmmaker's desired conclusions, all the while letting us think we got there on our own. We need to see at least one of the heroines lose because the sad reality is that not all women leave the men that subjugate them--we need to be reminded of that not just for the dose of reality for credibility's sake, but it accentuates the emotional impact of the victories of the women that do overcome their barriers. Similarly, one of the bad guys should be portrayed as changing his ways so as to draw more attention to those who don't. Serreau's problem is that she can't accept a character losing. This, in itself, compromises credibility. As Shakespeare once said, `thou doest protest too loudly.'

    There's no question that `Chaos' will win the hearts and minds of women who feel victimized, or who seek the camaraderie of seeing strong women win on screen. But it's almost sad to see them rally around what is essentially a vacuous film that doesn't carry the more cogent message it could have been so much more effective at giving. I guess it's my way of saying, `preaching to the converted isn't hard. Leave that to the amateurs.'
    helpful•8
    2
    • argv
    • May 11, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 3, 2001 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • France
    • Language
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Kaos
    • Filming locations
      • Hôpital Broussais - 96 rue Didot, Paris 14, Paris, France
    • Production companies
      • Bac Films
      • Canal+
      • DH Film Service
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • FRF 48,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $206,789
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $20,570
      • Feb 2, 2003
    • Gross worldwide
      • $6,477,370
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 49 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

    Related news

    Catch Me Daddy | Review
    Aug 7IONCINEMA.com
    'Glee' -- 'Swan Song' recap: Marley isn't dead, but New Directions might be
    Dec 7Zap2It - From Inside the Box

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Chaos (2001)
    Top Gap
    What is the English language plot outline for Chaos (2001)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The Best Movies and Shows to Watch in May
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    2022 TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.