Name: A Little Chaos (2014)
IMDb: link to A Little Chaos
Genres: Drama, Romance. Country of Origin: USA
Cast: Kate Winslet as Sabine de Barra, Alan Rickman as King Louis XIV, Stanley Tucci as Philippe Duc d'Orleans, Matthias Schoenaerts as Andre Le Notre, Helen McCrory as Madame Le Notre, Jennifer Ehle as Madame De Montespan, Steven Waddington as Duras.
Directed by: Alan Rickman. Written by: Jeremy Brock, Alison Deegan, Alan Rickman.
The initial tableaux: The film opening is set in France in 1682. King Louis XIV commands that the gardens at Versailles be upgraded. The master builder, Andre Le Notre, asks for proposals, of which there are many. Andre is impressed by Madame de Barra's designs, and commissions an outdoor theatre with flowing water.
Delineation of conflicts: Louis XIV wants a magnificent garden. Sabine's competitors give her bad labor recommendations, which impedes her project's progress and gets her started into court intrigue. Madame de Notre wishes Madame de Barra to fail, since she thinks Sabine is dallying with her husband. Sabine has more than a brush with the French court. Sabine has to deal with the years past death of her only child and her philandering husband.
Resolution: The project gets finished, and relationships change.
One line summary: Excellent minimalist costume drama in the court of Louis XIV.
Statistics:
a. Cinematography: 10/10 Beautifully shot.
b. Sound: 8/10 Quiet but sufficient.
c. Acting: 9/10 Fine acting from Rickman, Winslet, Tucci, and Schoenaerts.
d. Screenplay: 8/10 The story is not overly complicated, but nicely executed. For the budget the film had, a good-looking, heart-warming story was told.
Final rating: 9/10; one of the better costume dramas that I have seen. This is one of the better small budget, low chaos films I have seen.
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