Jefferson in Paris
First screened in May 2013 / Most recently screened in April 2015
Director: James Ivory. Cast: Nick Nolte, Greta Scacchi, Gwyneth Paltrow, Thandie Newton, Seth Gilliam, Simon Callow, Lambert Wilson, Elsa Zylberstein, Nancy Marchand, James Earl Jones, Beatrice Winde, Tim Choate, Bob Sessions, Michael Lonsdale, Charlotte de Turckheim, Damien Groelle, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Vincent Cassel, Daniel Mesguich, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Steve Kalfa, Nigel Whitmey. Screenplay: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Twitter Capsule:
Aims for historical density but feels drily diffuse. Can't find tone or vantage on long-postponed Hemings plot.
VOR:②
Tarnishes the Merchant Ivory brand, for sure, but the precipitous, never-reversed nosedive still surprises. Brave to broach the Hemings affair but film seems eerily uncomfortable with its subject.
