Jefferson in Paris (1995)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

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:

Factual errors: In the movie, while Sally Hemmings is in Paris, she says she is pregnant. Her first child (Thomas) was actually born a year after they returned to America.

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:

COURANTE IN C. MINOR FOR HARPSICHORD

Historically accurate, as much as possible

I have written a book on this subject, "The Slave Children of Thomas Jefferson", first published in 1992, so I was expecting to find numerous errors. However, I could not find any. They seem to have made a special effort to make it as accurate as possible, so that a viewer will actually learn a bit of history.

This movie is really more about the history of France, than about the history of America. The French Revolution begins to unfold before your eyes, although the real revolution did not take place until after Jefferson had returned to America.

One problem is that the movie is not very exciting. No car chase scenes, for example. However, this is understandable since it would be difficult to make a film which is both historically accurate and a success at the box office.

Also, the movie does not actually show Thomas Jefferson in bed with either Maria Cosway or Sally Hemings. It is widely believed among historians that Jefferson slept with both women during his stay in Paris, but there is no real proof that either relationship occurred, and therefore the filmmakers wisely left that out.

Sam Sloan