Pretty tomboy Kim Matthews, 19, used to be a champion skateboarder – but now she’s stuck in a dead end job trying to support her Dad. Opportunity comes knocking in the form of a catering job in the one of the most exclusive chalets in the Alps. At first, Kim’s baffled by this bizarre new world of posh people, champagne and skiing – but then she discovers snowboarding, and the chance to win some much-needed prize money at the big end-of-season competition. But before she can become a champion again, Kim’s going to have to dig deep to overcome her fears. Hard enough, without the complicating factor of Jonny, her handsome – though spoken for – boss…
Kim Mathews (Felicity Jones) 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.
Filming Locations
It was filmed on location in Sankt Anton am Arlberg, in Tyrol, 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 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”.
Chalet Girl
Directed by: Phil Traill
Starring: Felicity Jones, Ed Westwick, Bill Nighy, Brooke Shields, Tamsin Egerton, Georgia King, Jessica Hynes, Tom Goodman-Hill, Rebecca Lacey
Screenplay by: Tom Williams
Production Design by: Benedikt Herforth
Cinematography by: Ed Wild
Film Editing by: Robin Sales
Costume Design by: Leonie Hartard
Set Decoration by: Johannes Wild
Art Direction by: Claudia Hellwich
Music by: Christian Henson
MPAA Rating: R for some language.
Studio: IFC Films
Release Date: October 14, 2011
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