JEFFERSON IN PARIS
A film review by Raymond Johnston
Copyright 1995 Raymond Johnston
Director: James Ivory Producer: Ismail Merchant Written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Starring: Nick Nolte, Greta Scacchi, James Earl Jones A Touchstone and Merchant Ivory Productions Presentation
Merchant-Ivory Productions have carved out a niche for themselves in costume dramas. Usually they are adaptations of classic or toney contemporary novels that explore class distinctions amid opulent surroundings. JEFFERSON IN PARIS is their first effort in a long time not to be based on a well-known novel. It is based loosely on a few historical incidents that lack any real narrative force. The poorly focused dramatic structure, odd casting, and slipshod approach to history sink this lavishly produced period spectacle.
The visual centerpiece of the film, featured prominently in the ads, points out several of the problems in the film. The scene is of a hot air Montgolfier balloon demonstration staged for the king of France. The balloon wafts through the screen to the delight of all those watching. Jefferson (Nick Nolte); himself an inventor, scholar, and architect; shows virtually no interest in the experiment. Instead he sneaks off with the married Mrs. Cosway (Greta Scacchi) to frolic in the woods and talk of his broken heart. This first flight with a live cargo was the 18th century equivalent of the moon landing, and a noted scholar shows no interest in it. It is just a visual diversion used as a backdrop for speculative romantic scenes. Historically, the scene plays even worse. The experiment for King Louis XVI really took place a year before Jefferson even arrived in Paris.
The rest of the first half of the film is a series of constant introductions to names dimly remembered from history class. Lafayette has a somewhat large role. Others like royal consort Marie Antoinette, King Louis XVI, charlatan Anton Mesmer and inventor Joseph Guillotine turn up for heavy handed cameos. With the parade of unneeded characters in their elaborate silken outfits, much of the film plays like an audio visual guided tour of a wax museum. The stiff and lifeless performances of many of the cast reinforce the waxworks notion.
Nick Nolte never manages to be convincing as Jefferson throughout any of these diverse encounters. When questioned about the particulars of the Declaration of Independence he fumbles for answers like a C student that forgot to cram for a test. He does not appear to be the man that actually wrote it. A few times in the film he putters with one of his various inventions, but seems more like a man that bought a useless tool at a garage sale. What exactly he is doing as minister to France is never clear. If he has official obligations he never attends to them. Mostly he just flirts with Mrs. Cosway at boring dinner parties. In real life Jefferson was noted for his witty dinner conversation. That is not evident in this production.
The second half of the film manages to come to life slightly thanks to the arrival of one of Jefferson's slaves from Virginia, Sally Hemings (played by Thandie Newton). She is the only one to create a full fledged vibrant screen character. She and her brother talk more convincingly on subjects like freedom than do the rest of the "great thinkers" in the film combined. Her portrayal exhibits a little depth, one persona for in front of her peers (both American slaves and French servants) and one persona in front of Jefferson and his aristocratic visitors.
The story around her character is the most controversial element of the film. For years there have been unproven allegations that Thomas Jefferson had children with his slaves. The film makers try to tell this story and distance themselves from it at the same time. They distance themselves by creating a framing story for the film. They are not saying that this story is true, they are merely relating a story told by somebody else. They introduce an African-American character named Madison Hemings (James Earl Jones), who late in the 1800s tells the story that Thomas Jefferson is his father, rendering the bulk of the film in flashback. It is this desire to tell the story and wish to get away from it that hurt the second half. The latter part of the film devolves into a poorly developed love triangle between the widower Thomas Jefferson, and two teenage girls competing for his affections: his devoted daughter and his slave. The film is rated PG-13. This rating does not really allow for in depth analysis of adult themes. The relationship between Jefferson and Sally Hemings is really just broadly hinted at. To raise such a controversial story element and then dance around it as Merchant-Ivory does here is reall a big cop out.
Throughout the first part of the film various plot threads are set up. The French Revolution is beginning, scientific advances are taking place, famous artists are at work. The film makers unfortunately choose one of the least interesting and least well documented stories to center on, and then show reluctance to deal with it realistically anyway. All of the main characters remain blank ciphers with no personality and their actions are not clearly motivated by any events in the story. JEFFERSON IN PARIS is a lot of lovely sets and fancy costumes looking desperately for something to be about.
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