Jefferson in Paris (1995)

Director:

James Ivory

Writer:

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (written by)

Release Date:

31 March 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

Plot:

One of the obsessive speculations in American history is whether Thomas Jefferson, in the years before he became president...

Plot Keywords:

Friendship | French Revolution | Thomas Jefferson | Ambassador | Guillotine

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Nick Nolte	...	Thomas Jefferson
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Patsy Jefferson
Estelle Eonnet	...	Polly Jefferson
Thandie Newton	...	Sally Hemings
Seth Gilliam	...	James Hemings
Todd Boyce	...	William Short
Nigel Whitmey	...	John Trumbull
Nicolas Silberg	...	Monsieur Petit
Catherine Samie	...	Cook
Lionel Robert	...	Cook's Helper
Stanislas Carré de Malberg	...	Surgeon
Jean Rupert	...	Surgeon
Yvette Petit	...	Dressmaker
Paolo Mantini	...	Hairdresser
Frédéric van den Driessche	...	Mutilated Officer (as F. van den Driessche)

Also Known As:

Jefferson à Paris (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature theme, some images of violence and a bawdy puppet show.

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #33642) | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-10 | Germany:12 (bw) | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:7 | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Sally Hemmings' gown made from the patterned gray fabric selected by Thomas Jefferson and Mrs. Cosway is the same costume worn by Jessica Oyelowo(Sarah) in Sleepy Hollow (1999), and by Billie Piper (Fanny Price) during the play rehearsal scene in Mansfield Park (2007) (TV).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Thomas buys items from Parisian merchants who use the metric system of measure over a decade before the adoption of metric units in France.

Quotes:

Thomas Jefferson: I kept having a debate between my head and my heart.
Maria Cosway: Which in your case, the head always wins.
Thomas Jefferson: Not this time. My poor head was simply whirled around by my unruly heart.
Maria Cosway: Oh-dear-God.
Thomas Jefferson: It kept telling me I love the lady and will continue to love her forever. If she were on one side of the globe and I on the other, I would pierce through the whole mass of the world to reach her.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

Soundtrack:

VIOLIN SONATA La Follia, OPUS 5, No. 12

An interesting American history movie

My interest in seeing this movie was to compare it with the recent CBS mini series, "Sally Hemmings," which I recently saw and enjoyed. This movie was slow moving and not nearly as interesting as the mini series but it did provide some supplementary information about Jefferson that was not in the mini series. The movie, of course, was written from Jefferson's perspective while the mini series was written from the perspective of Sally Hemmings. The photography in the movie was wonderful as well as the acting. The last part of the movie, was by far the best.