Jefferson in Paris movie storyline. One of the obsessive speculations in American history is whether Thomas Jefferson, in the years before he became president, had an affair with (and fathered a child with) his 15-year-old slave Sally Hemings.
Jefferson in Paris follows Jefferson to France (as the U.S. ambassador to the court of Louis XVI), following the death of his wife his friendships and flirtations with the French, his relationship with his daughters and slaves from home (especially Sally), against the backdrop of the beginning of the French Revolution.
Jefferson in Paris is a 1995 Franco-American historical drama film, directed by James Ivory, and previously entitled Head and Heart. The screenplay, by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, is a semi-fictional account of Thomas Jefferson’s tenure as the Ambassador of the United States to France before his Presidency and of his alleged relationships with British artist Maria Cosway and his slave, Sally Hemings.
It was the first portrayal in film of Sally Hemings, and at the time some mainstream historians disputed Jefferson’s relationship with her. Since then a 1998 DNA study found a match between the male lines of Jefferson and Hemings descendants, and the historic consensus has shifted to acknowledging that Jefferson likely had a nearly 40-year liaison with Hemings and was the father of all her children, four of whom survived and were freed.
The film was shot on location in Paris, at the Desert de Retz and the Palace of Versailles. The scenes at the Desert reenact the actual visit made by Jefferson and Cosway in September 1787. Many of French supporting cast are members of Comédie-Française. It premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
Antonio Sacchini’s opera Dardanus appears in the film. Also Marc-Antoine Charpentier’ “Leçons de ténèbres”, performed by William Christie and Les Arts Florissants with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Sandrine Piau, Sophie Daneman, and Jory Vinikour. Arcangelo Corelli’s La Folia is performed by Nolte, Scacchi, and Paltrow; however, the soundtrack CD is re-dubbed by others.
Although Gwyneth Paltrow studied harpsichord for the film, her playing is dubbed by Jory Vinikour, including pieces by Jacques Duphly and Claude Balbastre. Scacchi’s performance of Maria Cosway’s song, “Mormora,” was dubbed. The film was budgeted at $14 million. It grossed $2,473,668 in the US.
Jefferson in Paris Movie Poster (1995)
Directed by: James Ivory
Starring: Nick Nolte, Greta Scacchi, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Simon Callow, Seth Gilliam, James Earl Jones, Michael Lonsdale, Nancy Marchand, Thandie Newton, Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlotte de Turckheim, Lambert Wilson
Screenplay by: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Production Design by: Guy-Claude François
Cinematography by: Pierre Lhomme
Film Editing by: Isabelle Lorente, Andrew Marcus
Costume Design by: Jenny Beavan, John Bright
Set Decoration by: Bernadette Saint Loubert
Art Direction by: Thierry François
Music by: Richard Robbins
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature theme, some images of violence and a bawdy puppet show.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: March 31, 1995 (US), May 17, 1995 (France), June 16, 1995 (UK)
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