Often quoted but rarely understood, Thomas Jefferson has been dead almost 180 years but still remains a lightning rod of controversy. Aside from the seemingly never-ending soap opera over who he slept with and whom he begat, historians and biographers struggle to reconcile the opposing facets of Jefferson's nature: the man who wrote “all men are created equal” was also a slaveholder who believed in racial inferiority. Newly repackaged for DVD, filmmaker Martin Doblmeier's 1995 documentary (lauded by the Washington Post upon its initial release as an antidote to the dreadful feature film Jefferson in Paris) takes an unemotional approach to the paradox of Jefferson, combining interviews (with notable historians such as Pulitzer Prize winner Gordon Wood, civil rights leader Julian Bond, and late former congresswoman Barbara Jordan) together with voiceover readings from period documents and Jefferson's writings (unfortunately, the acclaimed performers” who read the quotes from Jefferson, wife Martha, and daughters have truly awful fake southern accents--think Nicole Kidman in Cold Mountain). To help bring the material up-to-date, the DVD includes a bonus interview with Dr. Eugene Foster, who studied the DNA connection between Field Jefferson (Thomas' uncle) to Sally Hemings' descendants. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Reagan)
Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain
(1995) 109 min. DVD: $24.95. First Run Features (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. June 13, 2005
Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain
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