The Legacy of Honest Abe ...

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2013)

When I learned that Spielberg, the greatest director of his generation, made a biopic of Lincoln, the greatest American President, played by Day-Lewis, the greatest actor of his generation, I could bet my house, my car and all my DVD collection that the film would swap as many Oscar nominations as Razzies for the last Adam Sandler movie. If anything, the film screamed to the Academy: "Give me the Best Picture Oscar!"
But don't pay attention too much on this sarcastic tone, it's only meant to emphasize my pleasant surprise after having finished "Lincoln". And by 'surprise', I don't mean I didn't expect a great film, but perhaps I was mislead by the title and thought it would be an epic chronicle of the life and death of the legendary President. Actually, the film focuses on the year after his second re-election and his three-month struggle to obtain the vote of the Thirteen Amendment, which would abolish slavery before the end of the Civil War. Like John Ford's "Young Mr Lincoln", the film spans a period of time, but probably the most significant of Lincoln's life, the one that cemented his status as one of America's greatest President, the most historically significant after George Washington.
And it's precisely because the narrative is concentrated on the last four months of Abraham Lincoln, that we're able to measure with a higher extent, beyond the profound humanism, the remarkable intelligence of a man, who understood that timing mattered more than motives.
Now, I expected the good man, the noble-hearted, the visionary and ahead of his time Lincoln, and I was certain Daniel Day-Lewis would be so resembling the man to the most subtle details, on that level, the lighting, the photography did one hell of a job by always keeping a shadow of mystery on Lincoln's face, exhausted, sculpted like a marble bust, in such a towering body that it looks like floating in the own light of its humanity. You forget it's Daniel Day-Lewis but truly a myth in march. Never since Ben Kingsley as Gandhi, has an actor transcended the legend of his own character, allowing him to resurrect on the silver screen with never looking like a movie character; Oscar-worthy performance? That goes without saying.
Still, THAT, I expected. And Spielberg being a director who loves to touch the heart of viewers, it wouldn't have been difficult to do it, with a character such as Abraham Lincoln. But the genius of the film, where it caught me totally off-guard is to show me a new facet of Lincoln's personality: a political tactician and a genius on that level. Since John Ford's 1939 biopic, I knew Lincoln was a man of modest education but great humanism, he believed in people's goodness rather than placid codes and writings, and his experience as a lawyer forged his capability to be fair, honest and wise in his judgment. And one thing he knew was that Slavery was unfair, inhuman, unjust and had to be abolished, that was his intimate conviction, his mind wouldn't be at ease until he got the abolition.
And what the film demonstrates is a brilliant display of Machiavellism for the good cause, in a sort of political chess-game whose mastermind is Honest Abe. The dilemma is quite easy to grab, Lincoln freed slaves during the Civil War but a precocious Peace wouldn't have been without collateral damages. By reintroducing the Confederate states to the Congress and give them enough weight to vote a massive 'no'. Lincoln must act and quickly, no one like him wants the peace, but if the peace threatens his project, goddammit, peace would wait. The delight of the film relies on the whole tactical choices, postponing, bribing lame duck Democrats, even using some "lawyer's dodge" to make history, and how delightfully ironic it is that Lincoln's greatest accomplishment was achieved through corruption.
The film doesn't feature many battles, there are lost of closed scenes and some intimate moments between Lincoln and his wife Molly, played by Sally Field, but the core of the film is the political conflict between Lincoln, the Republicans and the Democrats, in order to get his vote, pinnacling in the climactic vote during which many Congressmen realized they were 'making' history, and were like graced by the greatness of the project. Tommy Lee Jones steals the show with his performance as William Stevens, the most extreme abolitionist of all, a mysterious character who'd have probably sunk into oblivion without Spielberg's masterpiece.
Well, you read it, I used the word 'masterpiece'  I've been very critical toward Spielberg, but it allows me to remain impartial and call a masterpiece when I see one. Like some of Spielberg's best, "Lincoln" doesn't feature any of his archetypes: Spielberg has always been talented to push the right emotional buttons, and he could have easily fallen in that trap while handling the 'most beloved' of all the Presidents, the purest American heart. But never sentimental, "Lincoln" is instead a gripping and intelligently written film, with powerful performances and a very un-Spielberg like austere directing painting a new portrait of the political arena, more confined and claustrophobic à la Capra , except that this time corruption is for the good cause.
And when Lincoln explains in details why the slavery must be abolished, instantly, he has the aura of a prophet, of someone who knew he was meant to be President for a reason, and that's the material great men are made on. After the vote, he walks away to the theater while his servant looks at him with admiration. His job on Earth was finished and after his assassination, he belonged to time, and I suspect he became an immediate legend.
Maybe the film didn't need the assassination part (despite a clever twist) as the silhouette of Lincoln walking away was already a powerful symbol, echoing the ending of John Ford's classic.