A Little Chaos Review

by Helen Earnshaw | 17 April 2015

Starring: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alan Rickman, Stanley Tucci, Helen McCrory

A Little Chaos

Rating: 3/5

It was back in 1996 when Kate Winslet teamed up with Alan Rickman for the first time... nearly twenty years later the pair are working together once again on A Little Chaos.

A Little Chaos is a new period drama for the pair, which not only sees them reunite in front of the camera but also sees Winslet directed by Rickman for the first time. A Little Chaos is the second time that Rickman has taken up the director's chair and comes seventeen years after he made his debut with The Winter Guest.

Madame Sabine De Barra (Winslet) is an unlikely candidate for landscape architect of the still-to-be-completed Palace of Versailles. She has little time for the classical, ordered designs of the man who hires her, the famous architect Le Nôtre (Schoenaerts).

However, as she works on her creation, she finds herself drawn to the enigmatic Le Nôtre and forced to negotiate the perilous rivalries and intricate etiquette of the court of King Louis XIV (Rickman). But Sabine is made of strong stuff; her honesty and compassion help her to overcome both the challenges of her newfound popularity, and an unspeakable tragedy from her past, to win the favour of the Sun King and the heart of Le Nôtre.

I love a good period drama romance and there is a lot of enjoy here with A Little Chaos - Kate Winslet in the central role of a strong and independent woman being the major strength of this film. Winslet turns in another good performance in the central role and plays Sabine with such honesty and emotion.

As we get further and further into the film, we start to learn more about Sabine as the layers of this character start to peel away to show her heart and what is inside. She may be a strong and rather formidable woman on the surface; she is a woman who carries with her grief and a huge amount of guilt.

The scene where it is finally revealed what happened to Sabine's family is incredibly emotional - Winslet will break your heart as the lost and broken mother who is looking for forgiveness. It is the best scene in the film and Winslet is just terrific.

I am quickly becoming a big fan of Matthias Schoenaerts, who has been making a name for himself in recent years with the likes of Rust and Bone and The Drop under his belt. This time around, it is a very calm and controlled performance from Schoenaerts, as he plays a man who has thrown himself into his work to escape an unhappy marriage. Sabine and Andre are two kindred spirits who connect in a way that only they can understand. The pair shares a great chemistry and their relationship inevitably starts to grow and to blossom.

The main problem with A Little Chaos is that the film doesn't have an overall flow. At times, it feels like you are jumping from scene to scene and this gives the movie a rather disjoined feel to it.

The story is also slightly predictable - you know exactly how it is all going to turn out; but that doesn't mean you don't laugh and aren't charmed along the way.

A Little Chaos is an enjoyable movie that is packed with great characters - Stanley Tucci is great in the very brief time that we see him on screen - and a story that will keep you engaged.

A Little Chaos is not a movie that re-defines the period drama, but it is a movie that you can kick back and enjoy, as there is some great talent on show.