Paris, 1682. Determined to make Versailles worthy of his exalted reign, Louis XIV charges his royal gardener, André Le Nôtre, with creating a veritable Eden. In searching for talented workers to take on this daunting task he finds Sabine de Barra, a nonconformist landscape architect who is far from the court. Because she respects him even if she doesn’t agree with his ideas, Le Nôtre assigns her to the Bosquet des Rocailles, where she will add her own touch, which will bring her closer to Le Nôtre…

Picture gallery

Reminiscent of Sofia Coppola’s version of the story of Marie-Antoinette, this second movie by Alan Rickman has come out almost two decades after his first film, The Winter Guest. But the comparison of these two movies about Versailles made by and for Anglo-Saxon actors is not favorable: overlong at 2 hours, A Little Chaos is charmless in the photography of it main characters. It is clumsily written, taking no advantage of its setting, its subject matter or its excellent cast. The plot sticks only to romance, superficial psychology and a very limited view of the royal court. Instead it could have delved into two creative spirits at the center of a incredible place. The most memorable image is the very last, when the camera pulls away from the uninteresting drama for a view instead of the tremendous setting, to a very successful soundtrack by Peter Gregson.