It’s amazing how much we can read and learn about Abraham Lincoln, yet we have no idea what the man would have been like in real life. That’s what it was like for me, at least, upon viewing Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, a film which follows the final months of a president’s life who I have read about and discussed, but never been able to grasp beyond that iconic face.
Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood, My Left Foot) solved this dilemma in a way perhaps no other actor could. Day-Lewis has already won two Academy Awards for his leading work in the aforementioned films, as well as garnering two Oscar nominations for others. He’s certainly got another coming his way for his role as America’s 16th president, a portrayal that for all intents and purposes seems to resemble the real man as closely as possible. As Lincoln, he is hushed yet firm, open-eared to what others have to say while brilliantly wise in his own right and honest but also willing to do what needs to be done if it means the best for his country.
What Spielberg and writer Tony Kushner focus on with Lincoln is the passing of the 13th Amendment as the end of the Civil War draws near. The passing of the amendment would mean the abolition of slavery, something which many in 1865 were against. The president would need Republicans––his political party––in the House of Representatives (the key player here being Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens in another savory good performance) to vote in favor of the amendment while also gaining support from 20 Democrats in order for the amendment to pass. Not an easy task as it is, the president explains to his Cabinet (among them, David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Seward), in what is the best out of many powerful scenes in the film in which Day-Lewis commands the screen, that he wants the amendment to go through before the Civil War ends.
Spielberg makes sure to never have us lose sight of the war in context to the film and the toll it has taken on the president. It especially has clawed away at Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field) as she mourns their son, Willie, whom they lost in the war. As she antagonizes herself for being a negative association for her husband to have, she also guilts him for not showing more sorrow over Willie’s death. The guilt-trip comes to a head when one of their other sons, college-educated Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) wants to join Ulysses S. Grant (Jared Harris) and the North in the war.
We, of course, know how this part of history plays out, but with Lincoln’s death, Spielberg decides to take the subversive route. I’m still undecided as to how I feel about it and what it may or may not have done for the film as a whole, but I imagine it will have different effects on individual moviegoers. That said, I feel the most appropriate place for Lincoln to have ended was with a shot that came moments before the actual ending where the back of the president as he slowly walks away is seen through a point of view shot, as if we are in the moment getting to take in just how larger than life this individual truly is.
With a film of such magnitude, 149 minutes is to be expected. Though Lincoln can feel too weighty at times, the pace is kept up through the dialogue Kushner provides, as well as the investment we make in watching a part of American history. From the performances to the directing to the technical aspects we may often overlook, Lincoln is brilliantly made in every sense and does its significant subject matter justice.
Critic’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Daniel Feingold can be reached at daniel.feingold@theminaretonline.com.