Jefferson in Paris gets the royal treatment in this lush Merchant-Ivory-Jhabvala film about Thomas Jefferson's working vacation as a U.S. Minister to France during the late 1780s. He becomes something of a celebrity, feted at garden parties, lionized at the opera, and witnessing a clever demonstration of Mr. Guillotine's latest invention.
This social whirl only serves to highlight the ignorance of courtiers and ministers alike, as revolutionary fever brings out the best intentions of the entitled courtiers and the worst behavior of the starving masses. Jefferson's inner circle also creates another set of messy frustrations, as daughter Martha (aka "Patsy") discovers a budding relationship between her father and their 14-year-old slave, Sally Hemings.
Screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala discards historical accuracy and crafts a neurotic Patsy (Gwyneth Paltrow), who rages against Sally and hates his friendship with artist Maria Cosway. Sally was the half-sister of Thomas Jefferson's late wife, Martha, and Thandie Newton shares the sweet temperament historically ascribed to Patsy, but it's tarnished by the patronizing undertones of stupidity (no doubt passing for naiveté by director James Ivory).
Her growing attachment to Jefferson puts her at odds with brother James, who urges her to remain with him in Paris as a free woman when their master departs. Greta Scacchi adds a delicate touch to a rather pale confection in Maria Cosway, who must struggle with her own emotions for a very famous and very flawed man. Cosway was an intriguing woman, a gifted artist, musician, and champion for other female artists—someone who didn't restrict herself to only painting miniatures, as suggested by Ivory and Jhabvala.
Ms. Cosway views Jefferson and Sally's relationship with discomfort and dismay. Jefferson's bland assurances that Sally is treated well—like "family"—masks his sense of historical entitlement, which he shrugs off as something a foreigner simply can't comprehend. He fails to see the link between the poor people of France, rising up against oppression, and the parallel system of slavery, which will engulf his country in civil war 80 years later.
Neurotic. Stupid. Trivial. Ivory Productions surrounds Jefferson with a trio of handmaidens who exist merely to feed his bloated ego, perhaps as a contrast to their unsentimental treatment of the famous man himself. He smoothly lies to Patsy about Sally and files his flirtation with Maria under Pen Pal status. Our nation's third president coolly manipulates Sally and James into returning to Monticello, but like everything else in the film, it's a faux scene that robs Sally of any voice in her own history.
In The Life of Sally Hemings, courtesy of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., we discover "Unlike countless enslaved women, Sally Hemings was able to negotiate with her owner." In Paris, where she was free, the 16-year-old agreed to return to enslavement at Monticello in exchange for “extraordinary privileges” for herself and freedom for her unborn children. Over the next 32 years, Hemings raised four children—Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston—and prepared them for their eventual emancipation..."
But like the empty promise he made to his dying wife (never to remarry), Jefferson entered into a committed relationship with his wife's half-sister, keeping it all in the family until the dawn of DNA testing.
The Merchant Ivory team often excels at melding cast, sets, and costumes into a transformative visual experience. Films like The Golden Bowl, Remains of the Day, and Howards End continue to be the gold standard, but production value alone can't save this flirtation into the historical film genre. Like the man himself, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's story cheats the women in his life, proving that the male gaze isn't just confined to men in the industry.
References:
On Patsy's personality https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Jefferson_Randolph
The Life of Sally Hemings. Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. https://www.monticello.org/sallyhemings/