Lincoln

     There is a scene near the end of "Lincoln" that shows why movies matter so much as an art form.  Almost every viewer of this film will know going in that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater merely days after the Civil War came to a close.  So, any filmmaker who makes a movie about the last days and months of Lincoln's life will have to depict that awful moment when Lincoln is murdered.  How Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner bring this tragedy into their film resonated very well with me.  It was effective, mostly because the human wreckage that a murder (or even a death for that matter) brings can be every bit as horrifying as the death itself.  I will not ruin the surprise of the artistry of this film, but I will say that how that fateful night is depicted was noteworthy.  The movie itself is a standard piece of narrative done with excellent craft at every step.  It is a work of wonder, while not being groundbreaking.  It reminds us that a film needn't be groundbreaking in order to be great.

     The movie's overall story concerns itself with the months of Januray through April of 1865, most of the action taking place in the month of January.  As the Civil War draws to a close, President Lincoln is faced with a choice.  Will he push for a Constitutional Amendment banning slavery, or will he not risk his political capital at a time when the country is being unified around the war effort?  Daniel Day Lewis plays the president.  At this point in time, Lewis has done so much extraordinary work that it seems redundant to talk much about it.  His work here is again great.  Surrounding him is a remarkable cast of character actors who all bring tremendous professionalism to their roles...David Straithorn as Secretary of State Seward, Tommy Lee Jones as abolitionist congressman Thaddeus Stevens, Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Lincoln, etc., etc., etc.  At the center also of this work is beautiful photography as well as a wonderful script by Tony Kushner.  This movie is almost entirely dialogue driven, so a script that is able to keep that dialogue lively and riveting for 2 1/2 hours is quite an accomplishment.

     The other thing that this movie accomplishes is to give an earthy realism to the fight for the 13th amendment.  This movie shows that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  A lot of the unsavory wheeling and dealing that it took for Lincoln to get this amendment passed is shown.  Just because the 13th amendment was a good idea does not mean it was ratified in a just and honest matter.  150 years later, I see a president of African ancestry right now wheeling and dealing with congress over the budget.  I also hear a lot of talk about how divided we are as a nation.  We are divided as a nation.  We have big differences among us.  But, as I watched this film, it became more real to me how conflict follows any society, especially a democratic one which encourages dissenting voices.  We have not as of yet taken up arms against each other in a Civil War, and I think that we can be grateful for that reality in the face of our differences.

      As I mentioned earlier, the photography the film was beautiful.  It sort of reminded me of photographs from that era, which I would imagine was part of the point.  As such, there was a truth
to the movie that was striking.  It almost seemed as though I was watching the events as they unfolded.  The wonderful performances also brought that realism out.  One aspect of Daniel Day Lewis' portrayal that I really liked a lot was showing the side of Lincoln as a folksy storyteller.  Lincoln's duel nature of being both a down home guy from the Midwest while also being a tough as nails politician was a wonderful addition to this story.  While some of the domestic difficulties portrayed were somewhat standard, it was still heartbreaking to see how much struggle the Lincoln family had, both in public and in private.

     I must say, if I were voting, I would vote for Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" over this film for my favorite movie of the year.  This film is a wonderful work of narrative, and I would recommend it to anyone.  However, it feels like it represents a very traditional style, while filmmakers like Anderson are bringing fresh vision to their movies.  I almost hesitate to say that, because this is a
very good movie.  Having said that, this movie felt like a return to form for
Spielberg.  This is a solid, passionately told narrative.  Of the movies of his that I have seen, this is by far his best work since Schindler's List.  To be able to have so many films that can be so watchable, entertaining and universal is a true contribution.