The film’s plain, unprepossessing title immediately gives away that Lincoln is a historical drama addressing the immense legacy of the man who is perhaps America’s best known President. It is, however, anything but plain or unprepossessing.
The American Civil War has raged for four long years, and over 600,000 lives have been lost. Pressure is now mounting on the recently re-elected President Lincoln to bring this bloody conflict to an end.
At the core of the war lies the issue of slavery—the North want it abolished and the South want to maintain it to ensure their way of life—and with this impassioned national and ideological divide, Lincoln faces an uphill battle to bring peace to his country.
Racial equality has long been his agenda, and Lincoln seizes his opportunity to attempt to pass a new law effectively ending slavery (and thus nullifying the core issue fuelling the war’s conflict). Hoping that even the conservatives will prize the war’s end over their personal views on race, he takes the controversial 13th Amendment Bill to a vote.
But with a group from the South heading North to negotiate their surrender, Lincoln may be hard pressed to convince his parliament that abolishing slavery is the only conceivable way to bring the war to its end.
America’s collective memory of Lincoln is that of an ideological revolutionary. He has become the President whom history has cast a most favourable light; a cultural emblem that embodies the best values of a young, aspirational America. Daniel Day-Lewis has brought this iconic figure to light in one of his most superb individual performances. It is through his, and Sally Field’s, nuanced portrayals of historic figures that this film stands out. James Spader and Tommy Lee Jones are also notable with their fine supporting performances.
Director Steven Spielberg, through Day-Lewis, brings the personable side of Lincoln to life—Lincoln as a father, confidant and husband. Spielberg manages to capture the storyteller, the passionate leader, as well as the man becoming frail under the mounting pressures of both his political and personal existence.
Where the film struggles is in its lengthy set-up. And for those hoping to explore the more dramatic events surrounding Lincoln’s death, this is not the film. Instead the film provides an interesting exploration into the political machinations of the era, and the fateful events that somehow came together in order to create the remarkable change of course in American history.
Lincoln is every bit the historical epic that we’ve all come to expect from Spielberg, but given its heavy political currents and slow pace, it may not be for everyone.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones
Rating: M
Runtime: 150 mins
Release Date: 07 Feb
Reviewer rating: 3.5/5
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