A Little Chaos

---

Your Majesty.

Papa, we've made you breakfast.

Only Francoise is too

little to carry the tray,

so we have Philippe to help.

Yes, Uncle. I am the strongest.

I could carry it.

My queen.

Good morning, Majesty.

Be it known

that we intend to hold court

at the Palace of Versailles

within the coming month of May.

Clap.

Do you see how important it is to

elicit the appropriate response?

Yes.

To this auspicious end,

the finest examples of humanity

shall embody

the true glory of France

in a palace of eternal

and resounding splendor.

Take note.

Your eloquence they must love,

your demeanor they must fear.

I have further commanded

that the greatest masters of

France will realize this vision

unparalleled in

the history of the world

in gardens of exquisite

and matchless beauty.

Heaven

shall be here.

The light is fading, master.

Torches!

Madame?

Is it?

A week tomorrow at 11:00.

Don't forget about the length.

If you stand on the hem,

you'll rip it at the waist.

It's pinching me here.

Thank you.

Master Le Notre,

I am delighted to

make your acquaintance.

I've long been

an admirer of your work.

Le Notre?

Too clever by half,

if you ask me.

And riding on his father's name.

The strategy I employ

is to imitate.

They cannot resist flattery.

'Tis all vanity

to these bigwigs.

Of course, once you're in,

you must have the talent.

Speaking of vanity,

there's a hat, now, gentlemen.

Who is this person?

That's Madame de Barra.

I'm astounded by that.

Monsieur Mauve's plans.

How many more candidates,

Claude?

Three more, monsieur, after this

one, but the end is in sight.

Dullness or disrespect,

that is my apparent choice.

If the king's demands

were not so vast,

I would build

the gardens myself.

Indeed, master.

And in the meantime...

Monsieur Mauve.

Madame de Barra.

Monsieur Duras.

That a new coat?

The wife's idea.

Be covered in mud by Tuesday,

but by then she thinks

we'll have this job,

so the coat will have been

a worthwhile extravagance.

Sound reasoning.

Gentlemen,

I've not had the pleasure.

Jean Risse and Daniel Le Vielle,

Madame Sabine de Barra.

You're all here

for the interview?

We are, and you?

The same.

Been in Paris long, madame?

Two years.

And you've worked

for someone before that?

I know all the contractors

in the provinces.

All the gentlemen, that is.

There is no gentleman, monsieur.

I work for myself.

We all to be interviewed

at this time?

We're here early

to spy out the other candidates.

I've been in already.

Oh, how did you fare?

Spent upwards

of an hour with him.

Very detailed examination of the

work, so, you know, we shall see.

You must have impressed him.

I worked for his father.

I'm not disheartened.

He seems not disheartened, too.

Madame de Barra.

Well, gentlemen.

Best of fates to you.

Claude Moulin, madame.

Secretary to Master Le Notre.

Have you met the master before?

I have not.

Madame.

Sir.

I'm delighted to

make your acquaintance.

I have long been

an admirer of your work.

I am so pleased to attend...

These are your plans, madame?

Yes. Some are to be

seen around the country.

Others are still in progress,

not yet completed.

However, as required, there are two

sets of plans to your instructions.

The fifth and sixth, I believe.

Perhaps at the bottom...

I have examined them.

Ah. So...

May I ask you a question,

madame?

By all means, master.

Are you a believer in order?

Order? Order over landscape?

Well, I admire it.

Looking at these plans,

there seems to be no trace.

I would not agree.

I think there is pattern enough

in number six

to suggest absolutely...

Do you believe

in order over landscape?

Order seems to demand that we look

back to Rome or to the Renaissance.

What I'm saying is, surely,

isn't there something

uniquely French

as yet not celebrated by us?

Which needs the rules

of order to attain it.

All of my work

is based on a principle

you choose to deny.

I wonder that

you tender yourself

for a position with

someone you believe

to be outdated.

Sir, I...

I have nothing but admiration

for the scale of your work.

You were the first

to use such techniques.

I must apologize for any insult

that I may have unwittingly

offered you.

Perhaps, madame,

when you have been

in the public eye

and available for ridicule

for as long as my family has,

you will think again

about this conversation.

Good day to you.

Three minutes, would you say?

How was the interview? Well?

Not so well.

You have a preferred

candidate, master?

The king wants to

improve on perfection

and reach for the impossible.

I'm surrounded by barbarians.

No doubt it's death

if I fail him.

Prison, more like.

Get your hands dirty,

see what grows.

That's what your father

would have done.

You once said,

"No man, however grand,"

"knows what he wants

until you give it to him."

True.

A gentleman wishes to see you.

Monsieur Le Notre.

Here? Don't worry, I'll stay.

Come on.

Oh! Here.

Go on.

Madame will be

with you presently.

My father taught me gardening.

He encouraged me to see

beauty and re-create it,

not as an exercise,

more as an act of faith.

He told me that God put

us first into a garden,

and when we lost Eden, we were fated

to search and reinvent it again,

but only some of us have

the gift of knowing this.

Only some of us have that gift.

I spied on you today before

you attended the interview.

You moved one of my pots.

I did.

I was curious.

I will not take up

too much of your time.

I have been looking

again at your plans.

You did not care for them.

I am none the less for it.

In plain truth, I am used to it.

I did not say I did not

care for your plans.

I said I could find

no order in them.

This abundance of chaos,

this is your Eden?

My search for it.

I spoke today of the pressure

of being in the public eye.

I will spare you any repetition,

but, madame, in my world,

even anarchy is

by royal command,

and chaos must adhere to budget.

Good evening.

Later, messieurs.

Gentlemen.

Welcome to Versailles.

You found your way here without

too much effort, I hope.

The map you sent

was wonderfully accurate.

I shall need it to

get back out again.

We shall be

traveling about a bit.

Madame de Barra, Monsieur

Sualem and De Ville.

They are building

the Marly waterworks

and an aqueduct from

there to Versailles,

which we hope will alleviate the

severe water shortage here.

Madame. Gentlemen.

Madame de Barra

will be constructing

the Rockwork Grove

here at Versailles.

Water, or rather the lack of it,

will be a pressing concern.

Master, the king's

ambitions are already...

Are vast and ever changing,

and our task is to meet them.

With respect, no man can

meet infinite demand.

The king's commands

are not infinite, De Ville.

They are the king's commands.

Well, quite so, but the

aqueduct can only do so much.

When we began construction,

I was under

the impression that...

The past is history.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote