I SUPPOSE THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW, ALTHOUGH MUCH OF THEM CAN BE FOUND IN HISTORY BOOKS
One hundred and fifty years after the Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment is but a historical footnote, important in its prohibition of slavery, but really not applicable to our daily lives. It seems so inevitable and obvious of a law, that we take it for granted. However, the reality of it was much rockier and less of a sure thing. Its passage in the House of Representatives was a master stroke of deal making, persuasion, and in a few cases coercion. Lincoln does a great job of telling its story.
This is a very well acted film. Daniel Day-Lewis is great as always. I would imagine there is a great temptation to play Lincoln with a deep "Voice of Historical Importance", because it seems necessary to best convey his oratory. However, Day-Lewis goes a different (and more historically accurate) route, using a softer, high-pitched voice that sounds distinctly of the west. He tends to shuffle around awkwardly, conveying at times an almost comical appearance, while still maintaining an air of dignity and sadness.
Much of the rest of the cast is great as well, especially Tommy Lee Jones and James Spader. Playing the eccentric radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens, Jones captures his character, awful wig and all. He conveys his passion and urgency for the "radical" ideas of not just emancipation, but suffrage and racial equality for black Americans, while also showing his willingness to work with the more moderate and conservative elements of his party to get the amendment through.
Although Day-Lewis and Jones will get all of the awards buzz, James Spader probably walked away with the best performance in the film. There is no reason a historical film should be this funny, but thanks in large part to Spader's "sausage maker" W.N. Bilbo, there are many laugh out loud moments. He brought a lot of humanity and absurdity to a film that could have descended into stuffy reenactment. Other credit should go to David Strathairn as William Seward, Bruce McGill as stuffy old Edwin Stanton, and Michael Sthulbarg as conflicted Democrat George Yeaman.
As enjoyable as the movie is, it certainly has a few issues. Sally Field does well enough, but she seems to be there just to remind people how tragic her life was. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a good job, but seems to be underused. Although it probably seemed obligatory to include Lincoln's death, that part seemed tacked on, especially since there was an excellent scene a few minutes before that would have been a great place to end it. Even if the theater fake-out was clever and heartbreaking in a very Spielbergian way.
Historical films are tough things to pull off. They usually benefit from being fairly small in scope, allowing for a stronger story*. Choosing to focus on the first four months of 1865 was a wise choice, as trying to cram the entirety of Lincoln's administration would have been too tricky to pull off. If other historical films were this good, perhaps they'd be much more prevalent.
Lincoln should still be playing in theaters nationwide. I heartily recommend you go see this.
*A good comparison of this idea is Gettysburg vs. Gods and Generals
No comments:
Post a Comment