Thinking of the people of Paris today...

A Little Chaos

Because there aren't enough films about gardening...

Last week Sarah and I went to the Gloucester Guildhall to see Alan Rickman's second film as director, A Little Chaos. This is the highly-fictionalised account of the creation of the formal gardens for Louis XIV's palace of Versailles. Belgian actor Matthias Schoenarts plays the Sun King's chief landscape artist, Andre Le Notre, who hires the headstrong but troubled Sabine De Barra ( Kate Winslett ) to build an outdoor ballroom for the palace. Sabine challenges Le Notre's sense of order with her radical ideas, finds herself the victim of snobbery and Court intrigue, gains a surprising royal ally and  -  inevitably  -  falls in love with her "master"...

This is a very slight story and the film obviously suffers from a low budget but, after a slow start, A Little Chaos finds its feet and portrays a sweet, slow-burning love story among the pomp of the royal Court. Schoenarts is quietly convincing as the artist struggling to finish his project and satisfy his king's demands, while dealing with his unfaithful and manipulative wife ( the ever-wonderful Helen McCrory ) and slowly falling for Sabine. Director Rickman gives himself the plum role of Louis XIV but resists the temptation to ham it up or overshadow the main story, instead giving us a glimpse of the man beneath the wigs and the robes. There's also fine support from other dependable Brit character actors like Rupert Penry-Jones, Danny Webb and Phyllida Law, with Stanley Tucci adding some transatlantic camp, but the film really belongs to Kate Winslett...

Winslett's role of the fiesty woman forging her own ( garden ) path in a man's world, while haunted by the death of her husband and daughter, could have been hackneyed and obvious but she pours so much pain and sadness and anger into the role that she forces you to believe it. There's a beautiful scene where the usually-reticent Sabine opens up about her past trauma to the collected women of the Court who all, one by one, recount their own tales of love and loss, before metaphorically putting their masks back on to face the King and his cronies. Winslett only shares a few scenes with Rickman but the best of the lot sees her mistaking Louis ( sans wig ) for the royal gardener and sharing a few horticultural tips before discovering his identity. The love story between Sabine and Andre also defies the Mills & Boon-type material and becomes something more real and deep, but tinged with sadness.
Not a classic by any stretch of the imagination, A Little Chaos is still a fragrant little bloom...

Le Chat Noir

For no real reason, other than I think it's pretty cool, here's one of the most famous pieces of 19th century advertising art:

Le Chat Noir by Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen. We've had a print of this on our kitchen wall for years and for some reason I always thought it was the work of Toulouse-Lautrec, even though it's obviously in a different style. Oh well, you live and learn.

The poster advertised the famous Chat Noir cabaret/nightclub in Montmartre, which was a hip, swinging and groovy place to hang out back in the day. When Sarah and I last visited Paris, back in 2007, we stayed in Pigalle, only a few streets away from the modern restaurant which still bears the iconic name and black cat image. We were also right next to all the sex shops, burlesque theatres and the Erotic Museum ( ooh la la! ) - which was all very eye-opening...

And after all that bohemian decadence, here's our very own

chat noir, monsieur Hero :-)

Randomiser II

Let's get random.....

.....with more from the visual vaults of The Glass Walking-Stick.

I've been tagged! Take the gun! Go on without me...

I've been tagged by Saranga at http://paiwings.blogspot.com/ to contribute to an End Of The Decade meme. ( I won't go into my thoughts on when the decade really starts and ends, 'cos I've covered that at Saranga's blog, and I could be here all night... ) The meme in question was originated by Ami Angelwings at http://ami-rants.blogspot.com/2009/12/amis-of-decade-meme.html and the idea is to "basically come up with 3 categories and who you think wins that category. Be creative!" I've never been sure if memes are just another form of chain-letter, but this one seems harmless enough. So, here goes:

1. Best Cup Of Coffee Of The Decade.

( I've helpfully posted a photo of two cups of coffee above, just in case. ) :-)

OK, Paris , April 2007. Sarah and I were having a long weekend, staying in Pigalle - near the burlesque theatres and the Sex Museum! - and enjoying some fantastic Spring weather. One evening we walked into Montmartre and had an espresso outside a little cafe, at the foot of the hill below Sacre Coeur ( see below ). The combination of the surroundings, the beautiful weather, the lovely company and the industrial-strength espresso made this my Cup Of The Decade. Sorry Starbucks, you just can't compete with that!

2. Movie Series Of The Decade.

The so-called Noughties has been a great decade for movies, from Bourne and Bond, to Shaun and Hot Fuzz, to Eternal Sunshine and Atonement. But for sheer spectacle, for intelligence and emotion, for beautiful landscapes and ugly Orcs, for hairy Hobbits and flawed humans, for all these and more..... Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings Trilogy is The One Series To Rule Them All.

3. Local News Of The Decade.

This is quite a self-indulgent one ( And the others aren't? ) 'cos it relates to my home town of Gloucester. Like a lot of people, I imagine, I have a love/hate relationship with my local area. It's easy to feel bored and stifled by familiar surroundings and to only see the negative side of things. Also, as I've lived in the country and the suburbs ( did I mention that? ) and not actually in the city, I often feel disconnected from Gloucester itself, and possibly think of it like this:

The above is a view of the arse-end of Gloucester docks; not very pretty is it? Luckily, the city has received a multi-million-pound regeneration package and the docks area is first to benefit.

The above is a view of the new building-work going on. New shops, restaurants and hotels are revitalising this part of the city and hopefully bringing in more tourist-trade. The bloody recession can't have helped but it seems like a first step in dragging Gloucester into the 21st century, with more to follow for the city-centre, and not before time!

So, that's my extremely random contribution to this meme. I'm sure other bloggers can produce much more interesting work than me, so I'm laying down the gauntlet to the following good people:

Cal @ http://calvinscanadiancaveofcool.blogspot.com/

Edward @ http://lostinbarnwood.blogspot.com/

Baldy @ http://thatbaldyfella.blogspot.com/

Mickey @ http://www.my-silvermac.com/

Pete @ http://bronzeageofblogs.blogspot.com/

Let's see what you can do, guys!