Take 2 Movie Review: Lincoln

By DAVID BJORKGREN

Managing Editor

Is there nothing Steven Spielberg can’t do? In his latest film, “Lincoln,” Spielberg takes his cameras back in time and records one of the nation’s pivotal moments when it passed the 13th Amendment and abolished slavery. And he convinced President Abraham Lincoln to play himself in the film.

Well, not really, but it feels that way sometimes thanks to a convincing performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, a thoughtful screenplay by Tony Kushner and some good period piece lighting.

Day-Lewis gives us a mostly gentle, often humorous and folksy Lincoln who nevertheless shows the ruthlessness and political brilliance required to guide the nation through one of its darkest periods. In his Lincoln, we see not so much his human frailties, but rather the turmoil our 16th President felt trying to steer a divided nation past the institution of slavery and through the last moments of its Civil War. Lincoln’s devotion to the United States comes through, even as he occasionally tampers with its Democratic principles in order to preserve it.

And not once did he brandish an ax or try to kill off a vampire.
As with most film treatments of historical figures, we can only guess how close Day-Lewis hit the mark in portraying the actual Lincoln, but his is a Lincoln that felt real to the touch, visually and in personality.

Given the circumstances of January 1865, it seems incredible that Lincoln was able to orchestrate the House of Representatives into passing a Constitutional amendment to end slavery. The Civil War was still raging and even without the seceded southern states in play, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives was 20 votes short of getting the two-thirds majority it needed to pass the amendment. The concept of freed slaves was not a popular idea with many of the Democrats of Congress, from whose ranks many of the southern secessionists had come. There were even detractors among the Republicans.

And there’s a time limit. The South, depleted after four years of fighting, is sending emissaries north to talk about ending the war. The president’s in a quandary. If peace comes before the amendment passes then the South, readmitted to the Union, will be able to stop it. If he delays a chance to end the war early so the amendment can pass, then thousands more will die unnecessarily.

Most of the film focuses on Lincoln’s work behind the scenes to get support for the amendment before its final vote on Jan. 31. It is at these moments we appreciate Lincoln’s sheer will of personality. That personality was brought to bear against hesitant Congressman to swing them over to the “yes” column, as well as to members of his own cabinet who were often at odds over the best course of action to follow.

Day-Lewis is supported by a strong cast that has no problem sharing the room with him.

Tommy Lee Jones shines as Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens. This outspoken and sarcastic radical wanted slavery abolished and even pushed the idea that blacks and whites were equal. In a key scene during the House debates that resonates powerfully, Stevens must decide to put his tongue in check for the good of the amendment. Jones has raised the role of sarcastic, obstinate old man to an art form and he does not disappoint here. But beneath his humorous diatribes, Jones also shows us a man of deep character and principle.

Sally Fields gives us a stronger and smarter Mary Todd-Lincoln than history has often shown us. Yes, she struggles with depression and grief over the death of her sons, Edward and William, years before.

But at this point in her life, before future tragedies completely wear her down, she is still a strong and practical woman, devoted to her husband and politically-savvy when necessary. Fields shares a wonderful scene with Jones, when Mrs. Lincoln takes jabs at Congressman Stevens, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Stevens is critical of the money Mrs. Lincoln has spent to refurbish the White House and even tried to have her jailed. The White House, she counters, was a pig sty when they moved in and accuses him of withholding funds because he viewed the president and herself as hicks who didn’t need or deserve more lavish accommodations. At another point, in a bit of clairvoyance, she laments to Lincoln that she will only be remembered as that crazy woman who made her husband miserable.

David Strathairn plays Lincoln’s Secretary of State, William Henry Seward, a strong ally in the president’s efforts to pass the amendment. Seward had lost the Republican Presidential nomination to Lincoln, but in time turned from bitter foe to staunch supporter as a member of Lincoln’s cabinet.

Veteran actor Hal Holbrook plays Preston Blair, a combative Lincoln advisor and southern politician who opposed the 13th amendment and wanted instead a peace treaty with the Confederacy and a sooner, rather than later, end to the war.

Lincoln’s efforts to secure the necessary votes were aided by three political operatives, played sometimes for laughs by John Hawkes, James Spader and Tim Blake. These men worked in secret, offering patronage jobs to lame-duck Democratic Congressman in order to win their vote for the amendment.

Two characters in the film, Congressman Steven’s housekeeper, Lydia Hamilton Smith (S. Epatha Merkerson) and White House seamstress Elizabeth Keckley (Gloria Reubenoffer) provide a black perspective on the historic events of 1865, reminding us that real lives are in the balance while the politicians debate.

Spielberg, as usual, has done a great job of creating a visually stunning piece. Scenes are lit naturally or seemingly with whatever artificial lighting was available in 1865. The dimly-lit scenes create intimacy between the characters and the audience that draw you in. The landscapes, from interiors of the White House to exteriors of Washington D.C., to the battlefields, range from elegant to gritty.

This will not be a film to everyone’s tastes. It is not action-adventure. It is historical political intrigue. It is the spoken word and it is an intimate exploration of a bigger-than-life presidential figure with noble ideas. The cinematography, as good as it is, is mere backdrop to the actors that carry the day.

I give “Lincoln” 8.5 story-telling, top hat-tipping presidents out of 10.


By Arthur Ryan

Correspondent

Steven Spielberg is no stranger to historical drama. He won his first Oscar for Best Director in 1994 for “Schindler’s List” and then again in 1999 for “Saving Private Ryan.”

Films like “Munich” would follow as well as his work as a producer on such projects as “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.”

Spielberg has a great talent for interpreting history on film and with his latest effort, “Lincoln” which opened in movie theaters across the country this past weekend, he has outdone himself and delivered a breathtaking snapshot of a seminal moment in the life of our country and it’s 16th President.

Based in-part on historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 2005 book, “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,” Spielberg’s “Lincoln” concentrates for the most part on one month, January 1865. The Civil War was almost over and Lincoln’s decision to amend the Constitution and make permanent his wartime Emancipation Proclamation, set’s off a political battle of wits and backroom horse-trading that seem all too familiar to the polarized times we live in today.

Daniel Day-Lewis is nothing short of brilliant in the title role of Abraham Lincoln. His cool, calm and collected Lincoln is steadfast, amusing and at times impassioned, and not at all unwilling to play politics to reach his goal of ending slavery. His onscreen performance is one for the ages, up there with James Cagney’s George M. Cohan and Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone. There is no doubt that for generations to come, when people think of President Abraham Lincoln, they will picture him as Day-Lewis.

Sally Field also shines as Lincoln’s tormented and extremely protective wife, Mary Todd. Molly, as Lincoln calls her, is still suffering emotionally from the death of their son, Willie, two years earlier. When their oldest son, Robert (portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) hopes to enlist in the union army, it proves almost too much for Mrs. Lincoln to bear. The scenes between Day-Lewis and Field are exceptional and bring great insight into their relationship.

In a film filled with commanding supporting performances, Tommy Lee Jones shines as Republican Congressman, Thaddeus Stevens from Pennsylvania. His ardent abolitionist stand works both for and against Lincoln’s hope to pass the 13th Amendment and end slavery. His fiery rhetoric on the floor of the House of Representatives is a highlight, but Jones is equally as effective in more subtle scenes especially near the film’s end.

In at least two of those scenes at “Lincoln’s” conclusion prove why Spielberg is arguably the best living film director of our time. One is of course the assassination of President Lincoln and the other a lesser known footnote from Thaddeus Stevens’ biography, both of which are handled by Spielberg in the most inventive of ways.

His choices here are brilliant from a historical perspective. Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner know just the right moment to reveal information about a main character along with finding new perspectives in which to shed light on known historical events, many of which have been filmed before.

With great restraint, Spielberg’s camera offers a more intimate look at history this time around, one with less sweeping camera moves and obvious musical cues than in his movies of the past. In other words, there’s less John Ford and more Sidney Lumet.

Unlike so many other directors in the past who have played very loose with the facts, Spielberg’s “Lincoln” only embellishes along the margins. A handful of historians have taken only minor issues with Kushner’s script, most of which have to do with character motivation and physical appearance. But as is so often the case in translating history to the big screen, time constraints often have some characters appearing more real than others. And today more than ever, there are some historians who will see on the screen what they want to, based on their own modern political ideologies.

There is no doubt in this reviewer’s mind that “Lincoln” and it’s stars Day-Lewis, Field and Jones will be up for Oscars come February along with writer Kushner and director Spielberg. And for the first time in a long time, the hype around a film and its chances of winning Oscar gold will be entirely justified.

Spielberg has given America a gift, one that will live on in the memory of movie-goers and historians for decades to come. And following the election of 2012, he may have also given his fellow Americans the best kind of medicine, the kind in a form of a movie that allows old wounds to heal and offers something other than a political party to rally around.