Jefferson in Paris
Directed by James Ivory, Jefferson in Paris chronicles the years (1784-1789) that Thomas Jefferson spends as the American ambassador to France. ... Jefferson is 41 years old when he arrives from Virginia, accompanied by his elder daughter, Patsy, and slave James Hemings. ... The first plot relates to Jeffersons affiliation with painter Maria Cosway, the second follows changes in Jefferson’s relationship with his youngest daughter’s slave, fifteen-year old Sally Hemings, and the last is an observation of how Jefferson reacts to the political events leading up to the French Revolution. Maria Cosway, a married British-Italian socialite, is attracted to Jefferson.