Jefferson in Paris (1995) on Netflix
PG-1319952h 19mBiographyDramaHistory
Widowed and posted to France, Thomas Jefferson grows close to Maria Cosway, a married painter. His younger daughter Polly and the enslaved Sally Hemings come from Virginia to join him.
- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb5.7/103,320 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes31%
Trailer
Plot summary
Thomas Jefferson arrives in Paris as the American minister to the court of Louis XVI. A widower, he has promised his late wife that he will not marry again, and he throws himself into the art and science France offers. He forms a close friendship with Maria Cosway, a married Anglo-Italian painter and musician who becomes increasingly devoted to him. His eldest daughter, Patsy, is possessive of her father and jealous of Maria's influence. His younger daughter, Polly, arrives from Virginia with Sally Hemings, an enslaved maid who is also the half-sister of Jefferson's late wife. French liberals hope Jefferson will lead the country toward a more democratic government.
Cast
- Estelle Eonnetas Polly Jefferson
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Jefferson in Paris (1995)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- This was the first film to portray Sally Hemings, the enslaved woman Jefferson was rumored to have fathered a child by; the rumor was started in 1802 by a vengeful journalist named James Callender.
- A 1998 Nature study found a match between the male lines of a Jefferson and a descendant of Sally Hemings; in 2000 the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation said it was "highly probable" that Jefferson fathered her youngest child, Eston.
- Nick Nolte, Greta Scacchi and Gwyneth Paltrow performed Arcangelo Corelli's La Folia on screen, but the soundtrack CD was re-dubbed by others; Paltrow studied the harpsichord for the film, yet her playing was dubbed by Jory Vinikour.
- The film's scenes at the Desert de Retz reenact the actual visit Jefferson and Cosway made there in September 1787.
