Landscape artists don’t get a lot of play on the big screen, huh? Outside of the occasional SHRUBBERY (!) there’s little call for telling the tale of a garden opus. Then again, I’m told, if you build it, they will come.
One film they didn’t much come to is the last opus of Alan Rickman entitled A Little Chaos. Not only did the late Mr. Rickman write and direct this picture, he played King Louis XIV aka “Louis the Great” aka “the Sun King” aka “Gary.” Sad isn’t it? The real Louis XIV ruled for 72.5 years, a European record, while Alan Rickman didn’t live past the age of 69. Not that I’m gonna indulge trivia today, but A Little Chaos was a fairly trivial film.
Regrettably failing to sing about wanting to be like anybody else, this King Looie hires André Le Nôtre (Matthias Schoenaerts) to design the (soon-to-be) famed gardens of Versailles. I’m not sure the plot lends itself to great drama, but I’d generally like to know how some of the things I’ve marveled at were constructed. If you can figure how to make the building of the pyramids or the Great Wall as a backdrop for your romance, hey, go for it. This film, however, puts the building part front-and-center. Uh oh.
Le Nôtre takes several bids and then subcontracts to Sabine De Barra (Kate Winslet), which makes sense as she’s the only character we’re really gonna talk about in this film. Well, lookie here, Sabine is widowed and André has an open marriage. At this point, movie veterans like myself are wondering, “Ok, when do Winslet and Schoenaerts get horizontal?” You’re gonna be waiting a while.
A Little Chaos is a pretty good name for a comedy, but a flat-out crappy name for a drama. In addition to a quality title, the film moved with all the deliberation of a cactus combined with the excitement of a fern.
One moment that really, really bugged me about this film set in the 1670s was that A Little Chaos introduces early on that Sabine not only had a husband, but a child as well. Both are gone. Gee, did they die in a car accident? Oh, f*** me, they did! Dudes, come on. Really?
The best scenes in the film involve Rickman who falls in and out of heartache while also falling in and out of the backdrop of this picture. He had a much better time directing himself than either Winslet or Schoenaerts. Neither of the latter come off as anything more than “I’m a capable actor in a weak role.”
A Little Chaos was Alan Rickman’s first directing credit in seventeen years and only the second of his lifetime. Apparently, he was on the “once a century” plan. The film is sweet in places, but drags unmercifully and makes the audience wait far too long for the inevitable. It’s a predictable story and not a terribly moving one, but hey, gardens.
Loved by many a French sycophant
The Sun King built gardens in his slant
With his green pedigree
I think you’ll agree
He’s a ruler who was hard to sup-plant
Rated R, 112 Minutes
Director: Alan Rickman
Writer: Jeremy Brock,Alan Rickman
Genre: History?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who can successfully imagine they’re watching Sense and Sensibility
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: [Looks at his watch] “Are we going to get to the romance or what?”
