Word: jeffersonism
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...Jefferson in Paris brings this bit of vulgar wisdom back to mind. Regrettably so, for it is the work of that redoubtable trio consisting of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. With films like Howards End and Remains of the Day, they have, almost alone, kept alive what in Cohn's day was one of Hollywood's more agreeable genres: the handsomely made, well-acted literary-historical drama. These movies reflected the cultural aspirations of producers like Irving Thalberg and David O. Selznick while serving the needs of that portion of the audience not enamored...
...problem with this kind of filmmaking has always been caution. And that's what is wrong with Jefferson in Paris. It's as if everyone was just a little too much in tasteful awe of its subject, who is played rather stolidly by Nick Nolte. They are afraid to grant him his full vitality or give full dramatic life to the issues, public and personal, that stirred him during the five years (1784-89) when, recently widowed, he served as the new American republic's ambassador to France...
...time, Jefferson had much of interest on his mind. The nation to which he was accredited was in a pre-revolutionary condition, and members of the liberal aristocracy (his particular friends) were trying to ameliorate the situation. At the same time the great deist's daughter Patsy (Gwyneth Paltrow) is flirting with Catholicism, even thinking about taking vows. Their relationship is not improved when Jefferson starts courting a married woman, the painter Maria Cosway (Greta Scacchi), and deteriorates further when Sally Hemings (Thandie Newton), one of Jefferson's slaves, arrives from Virginia and they begin their notorious (though historically unconfirmed...
...series of humorous stories, Merchant described his movie-making career and the growth of his partnership with James Ivory. The two have collaborated on such movies as "Howard's End," "Remains of the Day" and the recently released "Jefferson in Paris...
...Reported by Gerald Bourke/Islamabad and Jefferson Penberthy/Karachi