Chalet Girl
Encyclopedia
Chalet Girl is a 2011 British romantic comedy
film directed by Phil Traill
. The film stars Felicity Jones
, Bill Bailey
, Sophia Bush
, Ed Westwick
, Brooke Shields
and Bill Nighy
. The film was produced by Pippa Cross, Harriet Rees, Dietmar Guentsche and Wolfgang Behr, and written by Tom Williams
. It was filmed on location in Sankt Anton am Arlberg, Austria
and in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
, Germany
. Critical reaction to the film was mixed, but overall praised Felicity Jones in the leading role.
) was a skateboarding champion before she was in a fatal car accident in which her mum is killed. Kim gives up skateboarding and begins working in fast food burger bar to pay household bills to help her Dad (Bill Bailey
).
When she and her dad need more money to pay the bills, Kim goes looking for a job with better pay. At first she gets turned down as she isn't 'posh' enough, but later gets called back to be a "Chalet Girl" (home help at a private chalet) in the Alps.
Chalet Girl Georgie (Tamsin Egerton
) is sent to help Kim out but doesn't seem to like her as she is anything but posh or glamorous and she can't ski or snowboard as she has never been to the Alps. Kim is instantly attracted to Johnny(Ed Westwick
) the rich son of Richard(Bill Nighy
) and Caroline (Brooke Shields
), although he is in a relationship with girlfriend Chloe (Sophia Bush
).
As Kim is living next to the mountains she tries to teach herself to snowboard although she finds this difficult. Mikki (Ken Duken
), seeing her struggle helps her out and teaches her to snowboard. He notices that she has a natural talent. He persuades her to try out to win a snowboarding competition to win $25,000.
Georgie begins to become friends with Kim and later finds out it is her birthday. She takes Kim to a club were they get drunk. She persuades Kim to take the party back to where they are staying, as the family are out. Georgie, Kim, Mikki and Georgie's friend, Amy (Abbie Dunn) are in the hot tub and they are naked. Georgie and Mikki continue to hook up.
When Kim gets out of the tub to shovel snow on herself, the family return home and see her naked. Georgie and Kim then proceed to clean the house and pay back for any damage that was down to the house. Kim continues to work on her snowboarding skills and tries to conquer her fear of the high jumps as it brings back the memory of the car crash.
Kim and Johnny become closer and during a business trip with his father and some potential investors he decides to stay behind, presumably to spend more time with Kim. Johnny pays her to teach him how to snowboard brings them closer and they eventually kiss. Bernhard (Gregor Bloéb) spots them and tells Johnny's mother.
Kim and Johnny are then seen kissing in the house end up in bed. In the morning Caroline (Johnnys mother) catches them and gives away the fact that Johnny is engaged to Chloe. Kim packs her stuff and leaves the house completely distraught.
As she is going to leave for home her Dad persuades her to stay and try and win the competition as it would have been what her mother wanted. At his and Chloe's engagement party, Johnny breaks up with Chloe after five years in a relationship, stating that he is in fact in love with Kim. After hearing the news of their break up Kim appears to not care about Johnny anymore.
Mikki and Kim enter the competition. Mikki fails to make the high jump and ends up breaking his arm, which takes him out of the chance of winning. Kim does well on all obstacles until she gets to the high jump, she stops as she remembers the car accident again. Although she doesn't make a place in the top 20 to be in the final, she is the first reserve having come 21st. When the finals come world champion Tara (Tara Dakides
, as herself) pulls out and gives up her chances of winning to Kim.
Kim makes all obstacles and jumps finally letting go of the accident. She wins. Johnny having come back after breaking up with Chloe, tries to make Kim forgive him. She does and they kiss. Kim also gets the prize money.
was cast in the lead role of Kim. Producer Pippa Cross recalled the moment that they first met, "I remember her walking into the room when we were casting and the director Phil Traill looked at me and raised his eyebrows at me and I said: ‘That’s Kim’. It was as simple as that." She was known to the production staff previously following a ten year stint in The Archers
and the Royal Court Theatre
production of That Face
. Jones described her character as a "witty, spirited beast", and cited the collaborative process with Traill as the reason why she took on the roll.
Ed Westwick
, best known for playing Chuck Bass
in Gossip Girl
, was cast as Jonny. He took the roll for a change of genre, because he liked the idea of playing a "nice guy", and in order to practice his skiing. He said of the film, "It’s a return to that sort of English comedy that I grew up with. It has elements of Richard Curtis and that classic English wit, which is great".
Brooke Shields
became attached to the project as Caroline, Jonny's mother, about a month before her shooting began and described herself as "honored" to be working with Bill Nighy
who was cast as her on–screen husband, Richard. Comedian Bill Bailey
plays Bill, the father of Kim. He was approached by director Phil Traill who used to live nearby to Bailey and took him for a drink down the local pub and was "chuffed" to get the role.
Playing the character of Georgie was Tamsin Egerton
, who joined the project because of the quality of the script in particular the banter between Georgie and Kim and became attached quite early as she was eager to work with Felicity Jones. She had auditioned a year before filming started and had assumed she hadn't got the part. Her only concern was that Georgie was quite similar to the character she portrayed in St Trinian's and St Trinian's 2.
German
Ken Duken
met the producers initially at the Berlin International Film Festival
, and was cast as the Finn Mikki after being called in to audition. Tara Dakides
, a professional snowboarder, portrayed herself in the film. She first became involved in the summer of 2009 and felt "extremely flattered as well as terrified" about playing herself on screen. In addition, Nicholas Braun
was cast as Nigel, and Sophia Bush
as Chloe.
, Cheltenham
in 2007. Williams had previously worked at Working Title Films
as a script reader, and described himself as sharing their "commercial sensibility". Rees described the Chalet Girl as the pitch that stood out, and Williams began to work on a script. The first draft of the script was delivered on Christmas Eve 2007, with a further 123 versions created before shooting would finish. Rees went on to meet Phil Traill
in Los Angeles
regarding a different project which he decided against but following a phone call from Williams, who Traill knew from their time at Newcastle University, the director was attracted to the Chalet Girl script. First time feature producer Rees teamed up with Pippa Cross, who she described as her "mentor".
A few changes were made to the script during development, including removing a younger brother of the character Kim. Due to budgetary restraints, a number of scenes were dropped or the locations moved. Costume designers had to fly around to meet the actors availability, including to New York
to meet with Ed Westwick and Soho
, London with Bill Nighy. Both Nighy and Shields wore some of their own items on screen to save the film's budget, including Shields' engagement ring.
Reconnaissance trips were made to the resort of Méribel
and to snowboarding championships in Laax
. Traill joked that due to insurance reasons, he was only allowed to ski on such recce trips, and so made as many of them as possible. The no-ski ban was extended to himself, Ed Westwick and Joe Geary, the first assistant director
, during the early stages of production. It was partially funded by the UK Film Council
, who gave it a grant of £800,000, and 10% of the budget was given by the Enterprise Investment Scheme
.
, western Austria
over the course of two months. Actor Ed Westwick went into filming as an already accomplished skier, having skied since the age of 12, but wasn't trained on the snowboard, only ever having had one lesson. However Felicity Jones had only previously been on dry ski slopes as a child, and had never previously been on a snowboard
. She trained for six hours a day for four weeks in order to become proficient enough to film, "I wanted to do as much of the groundwork on the board that Kim does as possible, hence the rigorous training. So, then towards the end I was able to do tiny little jumps." Jones also experienced life as a real chalet girl with staff at Flexiski. Tamsin Egerton signed on having had no experience on the slopes, and spent time with a trainer. Although she became "hooked" on skiing, in the final cut of the film she isn't actually seen skiing but can be seen on the blooper reel falling over on the slopes. Filming had to be stopped at one point, as the mountain had to be evacuated due to a snow storm. The village scenes were filmed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
in southern Germany
, including using the interior of a German log cabin
to double for a house in west London
. The break-up scene was filmed in the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl on the outskirts of Garmisch.
The majority of the cast were British, with Brooke Shields, Sophia Bush and Nicholas Braun being the exceptions. Bill Nighy filmed his scenes over a period of two weeks, and developed a football rivalry with Ed Westwick with the two actors supporting Manchester United and Chelsea
respectively. Shields and Braun struck up a friendship during the filming with Shields describing it in interviews as wanting to "adopt him as my brother".
into an interactive trailer. By clicking on a "Like"
button, it took viewers to additional features. Martin Talks, chief executive of digital agency Blue Barracuda said of the campaign, "Participation and sharing, such as this, and the convergence of media, like films and the internet, is the future of film making". The British premiere was held at Westfield London
on 8 February 2011. Further showings were held across the country to raise money for Comic Relief
2011.
gave the film a negative review saying "limping along from poor set-ups to glaringly obvious conclusions, the films ninety-seven minutes feels three times as long." Michael Leader for Den of Geek gave the film two stars, describing some of the jokes as "god-awful", and found that the film "overstretched" itself but described Felicity Jones as an "absolutely delightful screen presence". Peter Bradshaw also gave the film two stars in a review, for The Guardian
, describing it as "amiable, silly, feelgood stuff".
However, other critics gave the film positive reviews, such as Tim Robey of The Telegraph
, who gave the film three stars, describing Ed Westwick as "goofy", but praised the performance of Bill Bailey as "lovably hopeless". Time Out reviewer Dave Calhoun also gave it three stars, describing it as "loud, silly and surprisingly fun", and "corny and proud of it". The same star rating was given by Total Film
, where Matthew Leyland described the production values as "tatty", but Felicity Jones as a "natural, likeable everygirl". The Mirror gave the film four stars, Mark Adams saying that the film was a "fun-packed affair" and when writing for Screen Daily
saying "it is enjoyable entertainment with no real cinematic pretentions", and laid particular praise on Felicity Jones saying that it confirms her qualities as a leading lady. Sophie Ivan for Film4
compared Chalet Girl to those from Working Title Films
, saying that it was the first British comedy since then that "won't make you want to stick pins in your eyes", and gave three and a half stars. It has a 84% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes
based on 25 reviews, who gave it an average score of 6.2 out of 10.
(£1,045,326), Battle: Los Angeles
(£874,265) and Unknown (£775,576).
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
film directed by Phil Traill
Phil Traill
Phil Traill is an American television and film director. Although born in the USA, Phil was brought up in London, England He directed the movies All About Steve and Chalet Girl with Felicity Jones and Brooke Shields...
. The film stars Felicity Jones
Felicity Jones
Felicity Jones is an English actress from Birmingham. She is best known to television audiences for her role as the school bully Ethel Hallow in the first series of The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College...
, Bill Bailey
Bill Bailey
Bill Bailey is an English comedian, musician and actor. As well as his extensive stand-up work, Bailey is well known for his appearances on Black Books, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Have I Got News for You, and QI.Bailey was listed by The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy in...
, Sophia Bush
Sophia Bush
Sophia Anna Bush is an American actress, director and spokesperson. She currently stars in the CW television series One Tree Hill where she portrays Brooke Davis. Bush is additionally known for her film portrayals in the 2007 remake The Hitcher, John Tucker Must Die and The Narrows.-Early...
, Ed Westwick
Ed Westwick
Edward Jack P. "Ed" Westwick is an English actor and musician, best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl.-Early life and career:...
, Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
and Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
. The film was produced by Pippa Cross, Harriet Rees, Dietmar Guentsche and Wolfgang Behr, and written by Tom Williams
Tom Williams
Tom Williams may refer to:*Tom Williams , head football coach at Yale University*Tom Williams *Tom Williams , English-Cypriot football player...
. It was filmed on location in Sankt Anton am Arlberg, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Critical reaction to the film was mixed, but overall praised Felicity Jones in the leading role.
Plot
Kim Mathews (Felicity JonesFelicity Jones
Felicity Jones is an English actress from Birmingham. She is best known to television audiences for her role as the school bully Ethel Hallow in the first series of The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College...
) was a skateboarding champion before she was in a fatal car accident in which her mum is killed. Kim gives up skateboarding and begins working in fast food burger bar to pay household bills to help her Dad (Bill Bailey
Bill Bailey
Bill Bailey is an English comedian, musician and actor. As well as his extensive stand-up work, Bailey is well known for his appearances on Black Books, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Have I Got News for You, and QI.Bailey was listed by The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy in...
).
When she and her dad need more money to pay the bills, Kim goes looking for a job with better pay. At first she gets turned down as she isn't 'posh' enough, but later gets called back to be a "Chalet Girl" (home help at a private chalet) in the Alps.
Chalet Girl Georgie (Tamsin Egerton
Tamsin Egerton
Tamsin Egerton is an English actress best known for her roles as Chelsea Parker in the 2007 film St Trinian's, Holly Goodfellow in Keeping Mum and Guinevere in the 2011 TV series Camelot.-Career:...
) is sent to help Kim out but doesn't seem to like her as she is anything but posh or glamorous and she can't ski or snowboard as she has never been to the Alps. Kim is instantly attracted to Johnny(Ed Westwick
Ed Westwick
Edward Jack P. "Ed" Westwick is an English actor and musician, best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl.-Early life and career:...
) the rich son of Richard(Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
) and Caroline (Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
), although he is in a relationship with girlfriend Chloe (Sophia Bush
Sophia Bush
Sophia Anna Bush is an American actress, director and spokesperson. She currently stars in the CW television series One Tree Hill where she portrays Brooke Davis. Bush is additionally known for her film portrayals in the 2007 remake The Hitcher, John Tucker Must Die and The Narrows.-Early...
).
As Kim is living next to the mountains she tries to teach herself to snowboard although she finds this difficult. Mikki (Ken Duken
Ken Duken
Ken Duken is a German actor.Ken Duken is the third child of film and stage actress Christina Loeb; his father is a doctor. Duken never attended a drama school but took courses in drama, including under James Reynold...
), seeing her struggle helps her out and teaches her to snowboard. He notices that she has a natural talent. He persuades her to try out to win a snowboarding competition to win $25,000.
Georgie begins to become friends with Kim and later finds out it is her birthday. She takes Kim to a club were they get drunk. She persuades Kim to take the party back to where they are staying, as the family are out. Georgie, Kim, Mikki and Georgie's friend, Amy (Abbie Dunn) are in the hot tub and they are naked. Georgie and Mikki continue to hook up.
When Kim gets out of the tub to shovel snow on herself, the family return home and see her naked. Georgie and Kim then proceed to clean the house and pay back for any damage that was down to the house. Kim continues to work on her snowboarding skills and tries to conquer her fear of the high jumps as it brings back the memory of the car crash.
Kim and Johnny become closer and during a business trip with his father and some potential investors he decides to stay behind, presumably to spend more time with Kim. Johnny pays her to teach him how to snowboard brings them closer and they eventually kiss. Bernhard (Gregor Bloéb) spots them and tells Johnny's mother.
Kim and Johnny are then seen kissing in the house end up in bed. In the morning Caroline (Johnnys mother) catches them and gives away the fact that Johnny is engaged to Chloe. Kim packs her stuff and leaves the house completely distraught.
As she is going to leave for home her Dad persuades her to stay and try and win the competition as it would have been what her mother wanted. At his and Chloe's engagement party, Johnny breaks up with Chloe after five years in a relationship, stating that he is in fact in love with Kim. After hearing the news of their break up Kim appears to not care about Johnny anymore.
Mikki and Kim enter the competition. Mikki fails to make the high jump and ends up breaking his arm, which takes him out of the chance of winning. Kim does well on all obstacles until she gets to the high jump, she stops as she remembers the car accident again. Although she doesn't make a place in the top 20 to be in the final, she is the first reserve having come 21st. When the finals come world champion Tara (Tara Dakides
Tara Dakides
Tara Dakides, born August 20, 1975, is an American snowboarder and co-owner of O-matic Snowboards. She was born in Mission Viejo, California. She has snowboarded since she was 18 years old. She now resides in Mammoth Lakes, California.-Career:...
, as herself) pulls out and gives up her chances of winning to Kim.
Kim makes all obstacles and jumps finally letting go of the accident. She wins. Johnny having come back after breaking up with Chloe, tries to make Kim forgive him. She does and they kiss. Kim also gets the prize money.
Cast
Felicity JonesFelicity Jones
Felicity Jones is an English actress from Birmingham. She is best known to television audiences for her role as the school bully Ethel Hallow in the first series of The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College...
was cast in the lead role of Kim. Producer Pippa Cross recalled the moment that they first met, "I remember her walking into the room when we were casting and the director Phil Traill looked at me and raised his eyebrows at me and I said: ‘That’s Kim’. It was as simple as that." She was known to the production staff previously following a ten year stint in The Archers
The Archers
The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting"...
and the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
production of That Face
That Face
That Face is a two-act play written by Polly Stenham. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 26 April 2007, directed by Jeremy Herrin. The play was revived at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in 2008, opening on 1 May...
. Jones described her character as a "witty, spirited beast", and cited the collaborative process with Traill as the reason why she took on the roll.
Ed Westwick
Ed Westwick
Edward Jack P. "Ed" Westwick is an English actor and musician, best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl.-Early life and career:...
, best known for playing Chuck Bass
Chuck Bass
Charles Bartholomew "Chuck" Bass is a fictional character in the Gossip Girl series of teen novels and the television series of the same name. He is portrayed by English actor Ed Westwick. Although he is a secondary, antagonistic character in the original book series, in the television series Chuck...
in Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
, was cast as Jonny. He took the roll for a change of genre, because he liked the idea of playing a "nice guy", and in order to practice his skiing. He said of the film, "It’s a return to that sort of English comedy that I grew up with. It has elements of Richard Curtis and that classic English wit, which is great".
Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
became attached to the project as Caroline, Jonny's mother, about a month before her shooting began and described herself as "honored" to be working with Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
who was cast as her on–screen husband, Richard. Comedian Bill Bailey
Bill Bailey
Bill Bailey is an English comedian, musician and actor. As well as his extensive stand-up work, Bailey is well known for his appearances on Black Books, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Have I Got News for You, and QI.Bailey was listed by The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy in...
plays Bill, the father of Kim. He was approached by director Phil Traill who used to live nearby to Bailey and took him for a drink down the local pub and was "chuffed" to get the role.
Playing the character of Georgie was Tamsin Egerton
Tamsin Egerton
Tamsin Egerton is an English actress best known for her roles as Chelsea Parker in the 2007 film St Trinian's, Holly Goodfellow in Keeping Mum and Guinevere in the 2011 TV series Camelot.-Career:...
, who joined the project because of the quality of the script in particular the banter between Georgie and Kim and became attached quite early as she was eager to work with Felicity Jones. She had auditioned a year before filming started and had assumed she hadn't got the part. Her only concern was that Georgie was quite similar to the character she portrayed in St Trinian's and St Trinian's 2.
German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Ken Duken
Ken Duken
Ken Duken is a German actor.Ken Duken is the third child of film and stage actress Christina Loeb; his father is a doctor. Duken never attended a drama school but took courses in drama, including under James Reynold...
met the producers initially at the Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
, and was cast as the Finn Mikki after being called in to audition. Tara Dakides
Tara Dakides
Tara Dakides, born August 20, 1975, is an American snowboarder and co-owner of O-matic Snowboards. She was born in Mission Viejo, California. She has snowboarded since she was 18 years old. She now resides in Mammoth Lakes, California.-Career:...
, a professional snowboarder, portrayed herself in the film. She first became involved in the summer of 2009 and felt "extremely flattered as well as terrified" about playing herself on screen. In addition, Nicholas Braun
Nicholas Braun
Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Braun is an American actor.-Life and career:Braun was born in Bethpage, New York, the son of Elizabeth Lyle and actor Craig Braun...
was cast as Nigel, and Sophia Bush
Sophia Bush
Sophia Anna Bush is an American actress, director and spokesperson. She currently stars in the CW television series One Tree Hill where she portrays Brooke Davis. Bush is additionally known for her film portrayals in the 2007 remake The Hitcher, John Tucker Must Die and The Narrows.-Early...
as Chloe.
Development
Chalet Girl was one of a number of pitches by Tom Williams to producer Harriet Rees at the International Screenwriters' FestivalInternational Screenwriters' Festival
The International Screenwriters' Festival, founded in 2006, is an annual event held mid-year at the Manor by the Lake in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England...
, Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
in 2007. Williams had previously worked at Working Title Films
Working Title Films
Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, UK. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions, including films starring comic actor Rowan Atkinson...
as a script reader, and described himself as sharing their "commercial sensibility". Rees described the Chalet Girl as the pitch that stood out, and Williams began to work on a script. The first draft of the script was delivered on Christmas Eve 2007, with a further 123 versions created before shooting would finish. Rees went on to meet Phil Traill
Phil Traill
Phil Traill is an American television and film director. Although born in the USA, Phil was brought up in London, England He directed the movies All About Steve and Chalet Girl with Felicity Jones and Brooke Shields...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
regarding a different project which he decided against but following a phone call from Williams, who Traill knew from their time at Newcastle University, the director was attracted to the Chalet Girl script. First time feature producer Rees teamed up with Pippa Cross, who she described as her "mentor".
A few changes were made to the script during development, including removing a younger brother of the character Kim. Due to budgetary restraints, a number of scenes were dropped or the locations moved. Costume designers had to fly around to meet the actors availability, including to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to meet with Ed Westwick and Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
, London with Bill Nighy. Both Nighy and Shields wore some of their own items on screen to save the film's budget, including Shields' engagement ring.
Reconnaissance trips were made to the resort of Méribel
Méribel
Méribel is a ski resort in the Tarentaise Valley in the French Alps, situated near the town of Moutiers.Méribel refers to three neighbouring villages in the Les Allues commune of the Savoie département of France, near the town of Moûtiers , called Méribel Centre, Méribel-Mottaret and Méribel Village...
and to snowboarding championships in Laax
Laax
Laax is a municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.-Geography:Laax has an area, , of . Of this area, 35.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 30.6% is forested...
. Traill joked that due to insurance reasons, he was only allowed to ski on such recce trips, and so made as many of them as possible. The no-ski ban was extended to himself, Ed Westwick and Joe Geary, the first assistant director
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
, during the early stages of production. It was partially funded by the UK Film Council
UK Film Council
The UK Film Council was set up in 2000 by the Labour Government as a non-departmental public body to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee governed by a board of 15 directors and was funded through sources including the...
, who gave it a grant of £800,000, and 10% of the budget was given by the Enterprise Investment Scheme
Enterprise Investment Scheme
The Enterprise Investment Scheme is a series of tax reliefs designed to encourage investments in small unquoted companies carrying on a qualifying trade in the United Kingdom.-Purpose:...
.
Filming
It was filmed on location in Sankt Anton am Arlberg, in TyrolTyrol (state)
Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...
, western Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
over the course of two months. Actor Ed Westwick went into filming as an already accomplished skier, having skied since the age of 12, but wasn't trained on the snowboard, only ever having had one lesson. However Felicity Jones had only previously been on dry ski slopes as a child, and had never previously been on a snowboard
Snowboard
Snowboards are boards, usually with a width the length of one's foot, with the ability to glide on snow. Snowboards are differentiated from monoskis by the stance of the user...
. She trained for six hours a day for four weeks in order to become proficient enough to film, "I wanted to do as much of the groundwork on the board that Kim does as possible, hence the rigorous training. So, then towards the end I was able to do tiny little jumps." Jones also experienced life as a real chalet girl with staff at Flexiski. Tamsin Egerton signed on having had no experience on the slopes, and spent time with a trainer. Although she became "hooked" on skiing, in the final cut of the film she isn't actually seen skiing but can be seen on the blooper reel falling over on the slopes. Filming had to be stopped at one point, as the mountain had to be evacuated due to a snow storm. The village scenes were filmed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria...
in southern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, including using the interior of a German log cabin
Log cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
to double for a house in west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The break-up scene was filmed in the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl on the outskirts of Garmisch.
The majority of the cast were British, with Brooke Shields, Sophia Bush and Nicholas Braun being the exceptions. Bill Nighy filmed his scenes over a period of two weeks, and developed a football rivalry with Ed Westwick with the two actors supporting Manchester United and Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
respectively. Shields and Braun struck up a friendship during the filming with Shields describing it in interviews as wanting to "adopt him as my brother".
Promotion and release
In order to promote the movie, an online campaign was devised that integrated social mediaSocial media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
into an interactive trailer. By clicking on a "Like"
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
button, it took viewers to additional features. Martin Talks, chief executive of digital agency Blue Barracuda said of the campaign, "Participation and sharing, such as this, and the convergence of media, like films and the internet, is the future of film making". The British premiere was held at Westfield London
Westfield London
Westfield London is a shopping centre in White City in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The centre was developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn,...
on 8 February 2011. Further showings were held across the country to raise money for Comic Relief
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
2011.
Critical reception
Alex Towers of Trinity NewsTrinity News
Trinity News is the student newspaper of Trinity College, and the oldest student newspaper in Ireland. It is an independent newspaper which reports on the news and views of the students and staff of Dublin University...
gave the film a negative review saying "limping along from poor set-ups to glaringly obvious conclusions, the films ninety-seven minutes feels three times as long." Michael Leader for Den of Geek gave the film two stars, describing some of the jokes as "god-awful", and found that the film "overstretched" itself but described Felicity Jones as an "absolutely delightful screen presence". Peter Bradshaw also gave the film two stars in a review, for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, describing it as "amiable, silly, feelgood stuff".
However, other critics gave the film positive reviews, such as Tim Robey of The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, who gave the film three stars, describing Ed Westwick as "goofy", but praised the performance of Bill Bailey as "lovably hopeless". Time Out reviewer Dave Calhoun also gave it three stars, describing it as "loud, silly and surprisingly fun", and "corny and proud of it". The same star rating was given by Total Film
Total Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
, where Matthew Leyland described the production values as "tatty", but Felicity Jones as a "natural, likeable everygirl". The Mirror gave the film four stars, Mark Adams saying that the film was a "fun-packed affair" and when writing for Screen Daily
Screen International
Screen International is a multimedia film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by EMAP, a British b2b media company.The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global movie business...
saying "it is enjoyable entertainment with no real cinematic pretentions", and laid particular praise on Felicity Jones saying that it confirms her qualities as a leading lady. Sophie Ivan for Film4
Film4
Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.-Programming:...
compared Chalet Girl to those from Working Title Films
Working Title Films
Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, UK. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions, including films starring comic actor Rowan Atkinson...
, saying that it was the first British comedy since then that "won't make you want to stick pins in your eyes", and gave three and a half stars. It has a 84% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 25 reviews, who gave it an average score of 6.2 out of 10.
Box office
In the UK on the first week of release, it was the top placed new film with £678,000 taken over the first five days having opened in 381 cinemas. However that figure was the lowest for the top placed new film since April 2010 with Whip It. This placed it in fourth place during the first week, behind RangoRango (2011 film)
Rango is a 2011 American computer-animated Western Comedy film directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Graham King. In the film, a chameleon named Rango accidentally ends up in the town of Dirt, an outpost that is in desperate need of a new sheriff...
(£1,045,326), Battle: Los Angeles
Battle: Los Angeles
Battle: Los Angeles is a 2011 American military science fiction war film directed by Jonathan Liebesman, and starring Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo and Michael Peña...
(£874,265) and Unknown (£775,576).