The film was entered into the 1997 Cannes Film Festival . To date , it is the only feature directed by Rousselot , an award-winning cinematographer . Thomas Smithers ( Postlethwaite ) , who has made his fortune as an ironmonger and cannon-maker , hires the famous Meneer Chrome ( McGregor ) to create the most extravagant garden imaginable on his overgrown property . Smithers does n't know that his wife 's cousin Fitzmaurice ( Grant ) has already hired Chrome , with the goal of bankrupting Smithers and essentially acquiring Juliana , whom he loves . Juliana , however , is attracted to Chrome and he in turn to the Smithers ' daughter , Anna , who filters all experiences through a volume of Andrew Marvell 's poems that she is never without . Her parents , thinking her mentally unstable , subject her to numerous " treatments " that prompt Chrome 's compassion . As the garden grows increasingly complex and Smithers approaches bankruptcy , Fitzmaurice realizes that Chrome 's affection for Anna makes him a liability ; he threatens to reveal some damaging information about Chrome and then decides to kill him , but his plan backfires and Fitzmaurice dies . Juliana decides to remain loyal to her husband , now bankrupt from his obsession with the garden project . Chrome , revealed as an imposter ( the assistant to the actual Chrome ) , goes to the sea with Anna , where she throws away her book of poetry
1997 Cannes Film Festival
1997 Cannes Film Festival
The Serpent's Kiss