“A little chaos” - a loving liaison between fact and fiction.

Artistic license is a privilege granted to every artist. It gives them the freedom to imagine, conceive, expand, infiltrate, offend, beautify, and create a world of imaginary certitude ,transporting the beholder from their gross addiction to day to day affairs , into the realm of potentiality and harmonious blending of fact with fiction; infusing a drab and juiceless life with passion, clarity and emotional fulfillment - and above all, allowing one to see the world with fresh eyes without the restricting limitation of causation. Man has always loved his stories; for million of years it is in these steamy, vaporous and often dreamy world of stories he has had his sustenance. It has filled every human event with a sense of extraordinary, and every act blessed with a hoary myth. And It is from these beginnings we have evolved into our modern selves; not by casting away out our primeval attraction to fiction, but by merely sublimating it to our rational selves. Even today, It now lies dormant within most of us; waiting for a good story teller to awaken that enchanting world which lies buried deep within. And good art in different forms, every now and then, manages to unlock that secret passage connecting fact with dramatic fiction, ,allowing us to curl luxuriantly in the amniotic comfort of suspended disbelief which a well told story so mercifully creates. A world without that state is hardly conceivable, or for the matter not worth inhabiting. Art, as is often said , is the true elixir and panacea of life. Nothing can be truer!!

I love artists who can pick up an event from the past, present or future and embellish it with their imagination. Who would read Tolstoy’s “War and peace” if not for the brilliant tapestry of Russian life he spun for us, or who would have succumbed to the secrecy and revenge of Madame defarge in Dickens “Tale of two cities”, If the master had not woven a emotionally charged story encapsulating the French Revolution around her, or , who would have watched demille’s “Ten commandments”, if not for his heroic imagination that imbued a Moses with all human fallacies and strengths, or how can we wade through the thousand page tome of Vikram seth’s “ A suitable boy”- which in a single line can be condensed as Girl meeting boy and getting married, if not for those sumptuous details, anecdotes and sub plots that held the theme together . In all these Instances, facts are wonderfully. subtly clothed in fiction; it sometimes becomes difficult to separate one from the other. Human history is full of such stories. There is no real objectivity at all. What gets written as history, and passed on is more often than not colored by the subjective eyes of its chronicler with all the hues of his emotions. It does not mean, it is incorrect ; but only enhances the appreciation of the event and probably satisfies some inner need to fictionalize.

I recently watched the 2014 film directed by Alan Rickman titled “A little chaos” - a story based on the design and construction of the open air ball room that Louis IV commissioned his chief architect Andre Le Notre to develop in Versailles. Speaking of the palace and gardens of Versailles!!. What a magnificent symbol of monarchy and its power. History has it that the “Sun King” wished to rival the gardens his disgraced financed minister Nicolas Fouquet ( who embezzled state money) built for himself; hence hired the minister’s own architects and landscaping engineer Andre and "ordered" them to excel their own creation in Versailles. Over 800 hectares of land, the king wished to spawn a palace to move in; and being an ardent horticulturist himself, he needed his gardens to be its crown jewel. Louis IV was also a fantastic ballet dancer, and his dream of an open air ball room set in the midst of sprawling garden very dear to him.Even today, Modern engineers marvel at the conception and execution of this piece of architecture. Watered throughout the year by underground canals running miles across to access water, embroidered by choicest flowers that Louis loved, and surrounded by 32 varieties of pears, fountains emanating from unlikely corners almost dancing to the tunes of the invisible orchestra hidden behind trees, railing and pediments brocaded by twirling vines shimmering in green, and the dancing podium in marble glistening with purity in striking contrast to the profusion of colors surrounding it. - it is truly one of the greatest architectural wonders of the age. Historically, we know nothing about how the ball room was built, what problems were encountered, how they were solved, what kind of Men and women put their heart and soul into that marvelous enterprise - facts are silent about such sentiments; but an artist is free to imagine how it could have been. That is their natural prerogative, and Alan Rickman has done just that in this movie. He has created a fictional landscape artist in Madame Sabine de Barra, overflowing with talent and beauty, widowed, sizzling with unorthodox ideas, willing to push the limits, outspoken and at the same time conscious of a certain demure shyness, so often found in women of exceptional beauty. Andre, the master architect recruits her for unconventional reasons. While he believes strictly in order, Madam de barre wouldn't mind a little chaos. Using their relationship and work as a basis, Rickman has stitched a story that gives us glimpses of aristocratic life style in France during Louis IV’s time. Rickman plays the role of the King to perfection. The strong minded yet effeminate monarch ruled France during its tumultuous times for nearly half a century, and his reign was perhaps the last before the profligacy of kingship came to an end, and In Rickman’s portrayal of this role, one can sense the deep wisdom and humaneness of this great French King and the gentle passing of an era.

The movie however belonged to Kate Winslet as Madam de Barra. In my books Ms Winslet is the best British actress of my generation. if anyone had told me twenty years ago, that this girl playing the rich lover girl in Titanic would over years blossom into one of the most proficient , consummate character actors on screen - I would not have believed; but she has proved many a critic and admirers wrong. Unmindful of physical beauty, with a face that radiates mature intelligence and innocence, equally. - she essays a realistic portrayal of an enlightened female in a milieu that was essentially overflowing with male chauvinism . Critics may point out that such a character as De Barra could not have lived during Louis time; but who cares ?. We love the imagination of the story teller who could place her in such settings, and pull it off well.

The great German author Goethe one wrote “ one ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem ,see a fine picture, and if it were possible to speak a few reasonable words..” . Well told stories like “ A little chaos” achieves that purpose of educating and entertaining at the same time. What more can we expect out of art? Towards the end of a hard working day, how comforting and relaxing would it be to immerse oneself into a world of imagination and possibilities. It relieves the strain of living "purposefully" and retreating into a space where a little chaos can reign. Nothing wrong with that!!

God bless…

Yours in mortality,

Bala