Lincoln

Rating

Director
Steven Spielberg
Screenplay
Tony Kushner (Book “Team of Rivals”: Doris Kearns Goodwin)
Length
150 min.
Starring
Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones, Lee Pace
MPAA Rating
PG-13 for an intense scene of war violence, some images of carnage and brief strong language

Review
The film that almost ended up on cable television marks Steven Spielberg’s sharpest feature film in nearly a decade. Lincoln explores U.S. history with staggering attention to detail and a cast that is largely impressive.

One of the key constitutional amendments in United States history was the passage of the 13th amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude. This effectively outlawed slavery in the United States. Passed toward the end of the Civil War and not long before the assassination of the man who helped pass it, Lincoln looks at a small snippet of Abraham Lincoln’s (Daniel Day-Lewis) presidency, but one of his most important accomplishments.

Forced to make grand bargains and cajole members of a recalcitrant and frequently hostile Democratic Party, Lincoln plays the political game better than many and ekes out a simple, important victory through the course of the film. While the movie takes a few moments to look at his relationship with previously-institutionalized wife Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field) and his willful son Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), much of the time is devoted to the backroom deals carried out by W.N. Bilbo (James Spader) and his team who must deliver enough votes for passage even if it means promising more than he desires.

One of Lincoln’s fiercest foes is Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones), the head of the liberal Republican delegation most adamant to pass the amendment, but to do so without giving into the pressures of slave-happy Southern Democrats and the more moderate members of his party. Spielberg keeps Stevens’ influence hidden until the final passage of the amendment. Jones’ performance as Stevens is one of his fiery best, getting to dig in and deliver some of the most scathing political repartee the screen has ever seen. His key foe in the Senate is Fernando Wood played by a bitterly brilliant Lee Pace who keeps the vitriol and tempers high when the two frequently confront one another.

Field, though too old to play the part nevertheless provides a stirring performance as Mrs. Lincoln. Her mental breakdown at the house as she confronts her husband about the war and her son’s impending attempt to join the military is one of her best scenes, but its her barbed delivery against Stevens at a presidential party that showcases her raw energy.

There are a significant number of acting notables in this film, including several British actors playing unquestionably American characters, such as Mad Men‘s Lane Pryce (Jared Harris) as Southern general and future president Ulysses S. Grant. The list of actors is too lengthy to mention, but each of them present their characters with superior craftsmanship and then shift back into the background, each disappearing under copious period-accurate makeup.

Yet, for all of the superlative work in Lincoln, the anchor for the piece is Day-Lewis, a gifted thespian who melds into each role he plays, mesmerizing audiences with his craftsman-like ability. Day-Lewis has had a great decade, becoming one of the most important actors in recent film history and his new vision of Abraham Lincoln is a stark contrast to all prior portrayals. Lincoln has often been portrayed as a husky-voiced, strongly-convicted and oratorially sensational politician. Aspects of that emerge from Day-Lewis performance, but here we have a quieter, somewhat more cautious vision of Lincoln. Day-Lewis opts for period-accurate diction, aiding audiences divroce themselves from past portrayals. This is the work of a talented actor at the height of his ability and range.

That Civil War era detail is further exemplified in the lived-in environs of Lincoln’s home and the various taverns, tens and steamboats that dot the film’s landscape. Production designer Rick Baker deserves a great deal of recognition for that work as does costume designer Joanna Johnston. Frequent Spielberg collaborators John Williams (composer), Michael Kahn (editor) and Janusz Kaminski (director of photography) add their own talents to the work solidifying Spielberg’s team as one of the finest working in film today. Though, Williams is the weakest link. Much of his score works, specifically in the quiet, unassuming segments of the film, but give him a chance to fill the theater with bombast and he takes it too unnecessary extreme. This was a film that was largely minimilast is structure and tone with some strong directorial moments, thus an overbearing musical score drags the audience out of its historical perspective.

For most, Spielberg’s name is associated with the fantastical like Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. or Minority Report and while each of those films have something to say about society, it’s when he tackles important topics that he generates the most magic. More akin to The Color Purple and Schindler’s List than the more dour Munich, Spielberg has a special knack of digging into the core issues of historical neglect of hated peoples and bringing additional humanity and perspective to those works. Lincoln takes him back to the same territory as The Color Purple, but examines it from a distinct perspective. This isn’t a film that visually villifies those supporting slavery, instead dialogue and actions expose hypocrisy and bigotry among the purportedly free-thinking men of the United State Senate.

On the surface, the film speaks about the attempts to emancipate the slaves across the nation during the Civil War, but parallels can be found in Tony Kushner’s adept screenplay to the actions of hate-filled politicians with modern counterparts who use rhetoric to wedge apart the country on deeply philosophical lines. That there are compelling analogues to the anti-homosexual movement in the United States adds significance and depth to his work while keeping the historical significance firmly in place. If a film like this can expose the dangerous movements and actions of hard-line conservatism, it might help audiences understand and accept that we need to move toward enlightenment and away from entrenchment.
Review Written
June 20, 2013