A Little Chaos (2014)

Two talented landscape artists become romantically entangled while building a garden in King Louis XIV's palace at Versailles.

Director:

Alan Rickman

Writers:

Jeremy Brock, Alison Deegan

Stars:

Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, Stanley Tucci

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Claude 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

Storyline

A romantic drama following Sabine (Kate Winslet), a talented landscape designer, who is building a garden at Versailles for King Louis XIV (Alan Rickman). Sabine struggles with class barriers as she becomes romantically entangled with the court's renowned landscape artist, André Le Nôtre (Matthias Schoenaerts).

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Plot Keywords:

versailles | 17th century | france | female protagonist | garden | 

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Taglines:

From incredible passion grows incredible beauty.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [UK] Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 June 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

The King's Gardens

Filming Locations:

Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$181,791, 28 June 2015, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$551,609, 19 July 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Films, Bureau, The, K. JAM Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is set in France but was shot entirely in London.

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Goofs

Sabine De Barra went directly from an important interview to doing landscaping while wearing her beautiful outfit. While wearing an expensive embroidered corset, it is highly doubtful that she would have gotten it soiled with earth. She would be change into darker clothing or cover it with a dark smock.

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Quotes

André Le Notre: This abundance of chaos... is this your Eden?
Sabine De Barra: My search for it.

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Connections

Featured in A Little Chaos: Deleted Scenes (2015)

User Reviews

A Gardening Fantasy

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!