It is set from 1784-1789 in Paris, France, and is a fictional account of Thomas Jefferson's life as U. S. ambassador to France. It focuses primarily on his relationship as a widower to two women.
Thomas Jefferson (Nick Nolte) arrives in Paris and is immersed in the corrupt, shallow culture of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Thus we see the beginning of the French Revolution. With Jefferson are his daughter, Martha or "Patsy" (Gwyneth Paltrow), and a slave, James Hemings (Seth Gilliam). James was brought to learn how to do French cooking for the Jefferson household.
During his time there, Jefferson begins a quasi-romantic relationship with Maria Cosway (Greta Scacchi), an Italian artist and musician who is in a sham marriage with her openly homosexual husband, Simon (Richard Cosway). However, the film is not clear if the relationship ever moved beyond tender words.
In 1787, after the death of one of his daughters back in America, he had another daughter, Polly (Estelle Eonnet), sent to Paris along with an accompanying slave, 14-year-old Sally Hemings (Thandlwe Newton), the younger sister of James. Sally is the half-sister of Jefferson's dead wife, Martha. Martha's father had made liberal use of his privileges as a slave master.
Patsy Jefferson is very protective of her 45-year-old father and resents both Maris Cosway and Sally Hemings, who has taken on many personal duties with Thomas Jefferson. The film suggests that Sally Hemings essentially seduces Jefferson and becomes pregnant by him at age 15 or 16. James and Sally Hemings return to America with Jefferson on the promise that they and any children that Sally has will be freed at age 21.
This is really a James Ivory costume drama that does not seriously grapple with any real issues, either political or personal. It's thus disappointing at many levels. When the movie was made in the early 1990s, there was still some controversy about Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings. It's now settled history that Jefferson had multiple children with Hemings. It seems bizarre to imply that a 45-year-old man would be seduced by a 15-year-old slave girl and not to portray a more logical storyline that he forced himself on her, which was typical of slavemasters and female slaves.
Thomas Jefferson (Nick Nolte) arrives in Paris and is immersed in the corrupt, shallow culture of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Thus we see the beginning of the French Revolution. With Jefferson are his daughter, Martha or "Patsy" (Gwyneth Paltrow), and a slave, James Hemings (Seth Gilliam). James was brought to learn how to do French cooking for the Jefferson household.
During his time there, Jefferson begins a quasi-romantic relationship with Maria Cosway (Greta Scacchi), an Italian artist and musician who is in a sham marriage with her openly homosexual husband, Simon (Richard Cosway). However, the film is not clear if the relationship ever moved beyond tender words.
In 1787, after the death of one of his daughters back in America, he had another daughter, Polly (Estelle Eonnet), sent to Paris along with an accompanying slave, 14-year-old Sally Hemings (Thandlwe Newton), the younger sister of James. Sally is the half-sister of Jefferson's dead wife, Martha. Martha's father had made liberal use of his privileges as a slave master.
Patsy Jefferson is very protective of her 45-year-old father and resents both Maris Cosway and Sally Hemings, who has taken on many personal duties with Thomas Jefferson. The film suggests that Sally Hemings essentially seduces Jefferson and becomes pregnant by him at age 15 or 16. James and Sally Hemings return to America with Jefferson on the promise that they and any children that Sally has will be freed at age 21.
This is really a James Ivory costume drama that does not seriously grapple with any real issues, either political or personal. It's thus disappointing at many levels. When the movie was made in the early 1990s, there was still some controversy about Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings. It's now settled history that Jefferson had multiple children with Hemings. It seems bizarre to imply that a 45-year-old man would be seduced by a 15-year-old slave girl and not to portray a more logical storyline that he forced himself on her, which was typical of slavemasters and female slaves.