A Little Chaos (2014)

I have a problem with movies that play fast and loose with history, unless they make it clear that the story is fictional. If a movie purports to be historically accurate, many people are going to believe that what they're seeing actually happened, whether it did or not. On the other hand, using a specific historical time and place for background while telling a story that isn't meant to be taken literally can yield a pretty good movie. Many people have enjoyed Monty Python and Mel Brooks comedies over the years, but I doubt any of them took what they saw as literal history. And I don't think anyone really believes Abe Lincoln was a vampire hunter. Even Quentin Terantino's "Inglourious Basterds" (2009) isn't likely to muddy the historical waters, unless I underestimate how many people think Adolf Hitler was assassinated in a theater. So, I appreciated it when the opening title card of "A Little Chaos" (R, 1:57) informed the audience that the only thing guaranteed to be true in the movie is the end result. I felt free to sit back and enjoy a fictional story set against a historical background. I just wish I enjoyed it more.

There really was a King of France named Louis XIV who built an impressive palace in the Paris suburb of Versailles and surrounded it with spectacular gardens which included an outdoor ballroom, but he didn't look like Hans Gruber from "Die Hard" and young Rose from "Titanic" was not involved. Nevertheless, Alan Rickman (who also wrote and directed this film) plays The Sun King and Kate Winslet plays a fictional woman named Sabine De Barra, who the movie shows receiving a commission to design and build the outdoor ballroom portion of the gardens at Versailles. Of course, she's working for a male landscape artist named André Le Nôtre (the real life royal landscaper), played by Matthias Schoenaerts.

Rather than just showing the building of the gardens as it actually happened, the film adds interest and intrigue to the true story with the creation of Winslet's character. Sabine is definitely a woman in a man's world, and one who stirs things up in other ways as well. Competing against several men, she wins the competition to create the "Bosquet of the Salle de Bal", partly due to her slightly unorthodox plans. She respects order, but also likes being creative and different, adding a little chaos, you might say.

But that phrase applies to more than just her ideas for shrubbery, tiered landscapes and fountains with sea shells. You see, Le Nôtre is married, but I think we all know what happens when landscapers who are passionate about their gardening spend a lot of time working together in 17th century France! André's is a loveless marriage to Madame Françoise Le Nôtre (Helen McCrory) and one that involves much infidelity (at least on her part), but if André were also to cheat, he should at least have the decency to pick someone of a higher social standing. Even the possibility of this particular gardener and gardenette hook-up is enough to throw Madame into a jealous rage, one that holds the potential to ruin lives and cool outdoor ballrooms.

The problem with "A Little Chaos" is that it's a little boring. Portraying what it might have been like for a woman to put together an important part of the world-famous Versailles gardens is an intriguing premise, but isn't enough for a feature film. The love triangle adds some drama and we get some amusement by way of Alan Rickman's flamboyant courtier and a clever case of mistaken identity between Louis and Sabine, but all that only goes so far. The beautiful scenery and impressive costumes add to the film's appeal, but I can only bring myself to give this movie the mildest of recommendations. The script is well-written, but the story, the performances and the direction lack energy. I generally liked "A Little Chaos". I just wish I could say I liked it more (or as much as the other member of our staff who saw this movie with me and will likely be annoyed that I didn't give it a better grade). "B-"