Q:Build a movie plot around this: what country is jefferson us minister to at the time? Paris
A:
An understated chronicle of events with a brilliant cast. American actor Nick Nolte portrays Thomas Jefferson during the five year period from 1784 to 1789 when Jefferson served as a diplomat stationed in Paris. In 1785, Thomas Jefferson became the United States Minister to France, at the dawn of the French Revolution.The story begins decades later in the Midwestern United States where a journalist has traveled considerable distance to interview Jefferson's wayward son Madison Hemings (James Earl Jones). Hemings reveals many details, primarily that Jefferson died bankrupt. His mother Sally and his uncle James were actually the half siblings of Jefferson's late spouse Martha.Although not depicted in film, Jefferson's father-in-law John Wales was a Virginia slave trader, attorney and statesman. Wales had bequeathed his estate and his slaves to Jefferson upon his death in 1773. Also not depicted, Martha and Thomas Jefferson had six children of which only two daughters survived to adulthood.Jefferson arrives in Paris with his eldest surviving daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson (Gwyneth Paltrow) and enrolls her into the care of an academy for girls. The academy is part of the Catholic Church and as a Protestant, Jefferson's daughter Patsy is regarded among other Non-Catholic girls to remain of her own beliefs and free will.Jefferson's presence in Europe finds him representing the United States with an insolvent Congress and significant debt to the French military for their support and alliance during the American Revolution. He is introduced in time to many dignitaries including the adversarial Ambassador to Britain (Anthony Valentine), and the Monarchs of France, King Louis XVI (Michael Lonsdale) and Queen Marie Antoinette (Charlotte de Turckheim). Jefferson also appeals to Dutch bankers and requests substantial loans to keep the American Government viable.The costumes and pageantry of the French elite seem to be rather parody at times but the film supports the pivotal moments, of the one individual who achieved...