5 Alan Rickman & Kate Winslet 'A Little Chaos' Movie Secrets
The Alan Rickman directed A Little Chaos movie may not have had much impact at the box office or impressed critics when it was released in 2014, but the Kate Winslet period film is certainly a rare treat to audiences seeking drama based on a 17th century Versailles gardener.
As long as you don’t mind a few historical inaccuracies that is.
Co-stars include Matthias Schoenaerts, Stanley Tucci, Helen McRory, Steve Waddington, Jennifer Ehle, Rupert Penry-Jones and director Alan Rickman.
As long as you don’t mind a few historical inaccuracies that is.
Co-stars include Matthias Schoenaerts, Stanley Tucci, Helen McRory, Steve Waddington, Jennifer Ehle, Rupert Penry-Jones and director Alan Rickman.
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A LITTLE CHAOS (2014)
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Directed by Alan Rickman.
Fiery and unconventional landscaper Madame De Barra (Kate Winslet) finds herself entwined among players in the court of King Louis XIV (Alan Rickman) when head Versailles gardener Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts), struggles to meet a workload in 17th century France. Opposites attract and an uneasy love blooms as the chaotic gardening style of De Barra clashes with Le Notre’s more traditional ordered methods. Although there are many real-life historical figures dotted around, many of the characters in the A Little Chaos movie are fictional, including the lead, Kate Winslet’s Sabine De Barra. Somewhat disrespectfully towards the real-life Versailles gardener Andre Le Notre, the film anachronistically ignores the inconvenient fact that by the time of its setting in 1682 he had already worked on the estate for 20 years - and de-ages him by several decades to be a more appealing love interest for De Barra, and possibly lusty middle-aged cinema-goers. Another history related issue with the A Little Chaos movie is its revisionist sensibility, with Telegraph film critic Tim Robey claiming the portrayal of a lowly female landscaper mingling with the nobles to be ‘a most unconvincing depiction of late 17th century French aristocratic life’. Of course most viewers are simply seeking a couple of hours of escapism, and couldn’t care less about historical accuracy – and rightly so, after all, the A Little Chaos movie is entertainment, not an historical report. Unfortunately, this doesn’t save it from criticism either, as the slow pacing combined with predictable ‘safe’ plotting fail to provide it with the fuel necessary for much dramatic edge. Despite the thrilling dangers of a flood action scene and a romp in some flowerbeds, there is little to help elevate A Little Chaos above existing British period costume dramas such as Pride And Prejudice (2005) and Jane Eyre (2011). Knit-picking aside though, the A Little Chaos movie features some of the top acting talent of the decade, with Winslet and company delivering their usual high-calibre performances in lavish costumes to stylish and inviting cinematography by Ellen Kuras, a favourite with directors such as Martin Scorsese, Sam Mendes, Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee and Michel Gondry. |
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5 Fast Film Facts About 'A Little Chaos' Movie (2014)
5. A Little Chaos is Alan Rickman’s second (and final) film as director. Rickman’s film directorial debut was The Winter Guest (1997), a story following, amongst other things, a couple of women as they attend strangers’ funerals one cold day in Scotland. Based on the Sharman MacDonald play, and starring real-life mother and daughter Phyllida Law and Emma Thompson, Rickman was as familiar with the play as he was much of the cast, having directed the stage version two years previously.
Generally favourable with critics at the time of its release, and winning several awards at the Venice Film Festival, sadly since the 90s The Winter Guest has become somewhat of a forgotten picture in the annals of British cinema.
4. Oscar winner Kate Winslet was experiencing a little chaos of her own during production, revealing two weeks into filming that she was 3 months pregnant. Discussing the difficulties of working on a period costume drama under such a condition Winslet told Varity “We were in the early stages so I didn’t really have much of a bump at all, but I had huge, huge breasts and at a certain point there really isn’t any place to put them… So they either go down or they go up, but then you’re like, ‘Do we have any space in my armpits for these things?’ So [it was] definitely a little uncomfortable, but very necessary.”
Although this was Alan Rickman’s first time directing Winslet in a movie, they had both worked together previously in Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility (1995).
3. Much of the film focuses on the landscape work done by Versailles gardener Andre Le Notre – particularly his garden the Salle De Bal, a bosquet which features as the backdrop for the Salle De Verdure, built circa 1682. Complete with candelabra and torches, in 1683 the garden was inaugurated with a dance party by the Grand Dauphin (King Louis XIV’s son). The landscape would be remodelled in 1707.
Despite being set in France, the film was shot completely in the UK, with Blenheim Palace, Waddesdon Manor, Hampton Court Palace and others successfully masquerading as French estates.
2. Writer Alison Deegan is dyslexic and Rickman claims the script arrived at 180 pages long with virtually no punctuation. The fact Deegan had recently given birth while writing may also have contributed. Speaking to The Independent she recalled having to feed ‘Toby on one side, on one boob until it became really heavy – I wrote it out in longhand – and then I hauled him over to the other one, and I tried to do another bit’.
1. Although it took ‘three months, maybe less’ according to screenwriter Alison Deegan to plan and write the screenplay, it would be 17 years before cameras would start rolling on the production. This is because her first choice of collaborator on the project was the actor and director Alan Rickman, who had just agreed to take on a part in a fantasy movie.
The late Rickman had been eager to do more directing sooner, but claims Harry Potter got in the way. Speaking to Variety he explained ‘when I said yes to doing that… there were only three books and I didn’t know if I’d be in the fourth. You can’t direct a film unless you’ve got a year or more of your life, and I would spend several weeks a year on those’.
Generally favourable with critics at the time of its release, and winning several awards at the Venice Film Festival, sadly since the 90s The Winter Guest has become somewhat of a forgotten picture in the annals of British cinema.
4. Oscar winner Kate Winslet was experiencing a little chaos of her own during production, revealing two weeks into filming that she was 3 months pregnant. Discussing the difficulties of working on a period costume drama under such a condition Winslet told Varity “We were in the early stages so I didn’t really have much of a bump at all, but I had huge, huge breasts and at a certain point there really isn’t any place to put them… So they either go down or they go up, but then you’re like, ‘Do we have any space in my armpits for these things?’ So [it was] definitely a little uncomfortable, but very necessary.”
Although this was Alan Rickman’s first time directing Winslet in a movie, they had both worked together previously in Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility (1995).
3. Much of the film focuses on the landscape work done by Versailles gardener Andre Le Notre – particularly his garden the Salle De Bal, a bosquet which features as the backdrop for the Salle De Verdure, built circa 1682. Complete with candelabra and torches, in 1683 the garden was inaugurated with a dance party by the Grand Dauphin (King Louis XIV’s son). The landscape would be remodelled in 1707.
Despite being set in France, the film was shot completely in the UK, with Blenheim Palace, Waddesdon Manor, Hampton Court Palace and others successfully masquerading as French estates.
2. Writer Alison Deegan is dyslexic and Rickman claims the script arrived at 180 pages long with virtually no punctuation. The fact Deegan had recently given birth while writing may also have contributed. Speaking to The Independent she recalled having to feed ‘Toby on one side, on one boob until it became really heavy – I wrote it out in longhand – and then I hauled him over to the other one, and I tried to do another bit’.
1. Although it took ‘three months, maybe less’ according to screenwriter Alison Deegan to plan and write the screenplay, it would be 17 years before cameras would start rolling on the production. This is because her first choice of collaborator on the project was the actor and director Alan Rickman, who had just agreed to take on a part in a fantasy movie.
The late Rickman had been eager to do more directing sooner, but claims Harry Potter got in the way. Speaking to Variety he explained ‘when I said yes to doing that… there were only three books and I didn’t know if I’d be in the fourth. You can’t direct a film unless you’ve got a year or more of your life, and I would spend several weeks a year on those’.
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Quick-Fire FAQs About A Little Chaos Movie
Is A Little Chaos a true story?
While it is true that the Matthias Schoenaerts character Andre Le Notre was a historical figure and really was a Versailles gardener to King Louis XIV, his love interest, Madam De Barra played by Kate Winslet, is a fictional part invented for the movie.
How long is A Little Chaos movie?
The runtime of the A Little Chaos movie is approximately 1 hour 57 minutes.
Is A Little Chaos worth watching?
Fans of slower paced period costume dramas may agree that although the A Little Chaos movie is worth watching, it might not satisfy a need for historical accuracy.
What is the Kate Winslet Versailles movie?
Kate Winslet starred as a 17th century Versailles gardener navigating love, gender issues and class struggles in A Little Chaos movie, directed by Alan Rickman who also portrays King Louis XIV.
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