A Stooping Soft-Spoken Politician Saves a Nation

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2012)

Former portrayals of Abraham Lincoln via Hollywood have characterized him as a thundering man of resolve with a deep resonant voice whose utterances ring of an Old-Testament prophet. Of course, how could such a man, regarded by many as the savior of the United States, be anything but? However, the primary sources do not align with these ideals. At 6'4", Lincoln was a lanky and stooping creature with long thin legs which would give any basketball point guard a run for his money. He often walked with a bit of a sway, sliding his feet along the floor with a lurch. And he was devoid of a low resonant voice like that of Charleton Heston or Burt Lancaster.
The current film, directed by Spielberg and written by Tony Kushner, portrays the US's 16th president closer to the primary sources. Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is no less than stunning. He speaks with a high, often raspy voice which is how the primary sources from the time describe it. He slithers along when he walks, almost as if he has never gotten used to his height. He had a funny way of telling stories, sometimes irritating those around him with his sermon-like pronouncements. He comes off like a protestant preacher, quoting Old Testament passages at will.
But Lincoln was a master politician. He had two problems. Uniting the country by eradicating the Confederacy, and emancipating the slaves. The story focuses on a crucial yet sometimes overlooked moment in Civil War history: the very end of the war beginning in January, 1865. In this moment Lincoln needed his emancipation proclamation passed by the House of Representatives. (It had already passed the Senate.) But hard-line southern democrats engaged political road blocks to stop passage. And he needed a swift surrender from the Southern Confederacy.
How would Lincoln achieve both goals? During the film, some of his advisers foretell that he can accomplish only one of the two. He could lift slave emancipation as a condition of southern surrender. If the Emancipation passes, he could face southern resistance for an even longer period thus taking the lives of more young men. The story focuses on Lincoln's efforts to pass Emancipation as well as ending the war. The fight in the House is a bloody war of words with stiff resistance from the hard-line democrats and uneasy middle-of-the-roader's fearing they'll be killed or chastised for voting to end slavery.
An honorable mention goes to Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, an unflappable opponent of slavery and secession. Stevens was elected to the House of Representatives in 1848 and had added his voice to those of other abolitionists. His rhetoric in the face of biting argument becomes the unifying force which eventually leads the House into the direction they need to end slavery and make the US whole again. I assume he'll be nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
Spielberg's best since "Saving Private Ryan", "Lincoln" shows how history often unfolds in very unpredictable ways. The final vote to end slavery was not a slam-dunk event as often portrayed by history text books. The effort was calculated and took many weeks to accomplish. Many private meetings, and even some bribery, were the means required to accomplish the task. Lincoln also had to be careful to respect to some degree the rebels while simultaneously not recognizing them as a sovereign state. Since property rights were a condition of being a US citizen, the emancipation of slavery becomes a somewhat legal conundrum. Lincoln was a lawyer at heart, and needed a way to justify his means. This film gives a very clear sense of the obstacles which nearly hindered the United States from becoming a "more perfect union".