As they say, great cinema, but not great history

Rating: 8/10 (31 March 2013)

Why has Lincoln been a much more critically successful historical portrait than last year's The Iron Lady?
Perhaps this is because its real-life protagonist is shown working tirelessly towards the immense, meaningful goal of universal freedom and racial equality, an ideal that's even bigger than his own towering presidential figure. It could also be because the film doesn't hone in too breathlessly close on this single man, as the title and posters suggest, and spends developing the full picture of those much less reputed – albeit white – freedom fighters whose support for the great cause was also crucial. Most likely, though, it is because the complex political intricacies of the abolishment of slavery are really quite meticulously delved into, and not emotively paraphrased.
The closest Tony Kushner's screenplay comes to wanting to explore "Lincoln, the man" is with a handful of diverting but not terribly inspired scenes with him and his two sons – sweet little Tad (Gulliver McGrath) and the stubborn adolescent Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) – and his effectively dramatic interactions with his stalwart wife Mary Todd (a fiercely terrific Sally Field). Other than that, he is explored as a politician – a godlike and all-knowing one, but still a stealthy, reasonably realistic politician.
The film devotes itself almost entirely to depicting many details of the work of him and his fellow republicans in passing the 13th amendment through the cutthroat thorny tangles of the American constitution. This achievement, which was arguably Lincoln's most important and tragically final contribution to American society is certainly portrayed with dramatic flair, but also a fair amount of restraint and maturity. The fact is that at the very powerful topmost levels of government, the resolution of this hideously real social issue came down to a matter of carefully swaying the necessary number of ministers one by one in order to ensure the majority vote needed to pass the amendment. No grand, heartfelt humanitarian speeches were made in the hope of inspiring enough men to look deep into the souls and see the justice of the abolishment of slavery. Lincoln's belief in the possibility of changing the law so suddenly might be idealistic, but he's not mad enough to think that he can change social values anywhere near as abruptly. He is constantly strategizing, admittedly with more poise and eloquence than the average schemer, but still as any politician would. He uses the more readily appealing prospect of putting an end to the horrific civil war as a selling point for the amendment. Most controversially, he agrees to meet with peace delegates from the South, infuriating his Secretary of State, William Seward (David Strathairn) who wasn't consulted. He is paranoid that the correspondence will be found out, resulting in huge losses of votes as it becomes apparent that the amendment won't be needed to stop the war, but Lincoln is sure that word would still have gotten out if he refused to meet with the delegates, which would have been even more fatal to their campaign. His shrewd handling of the matter is as diplomatic as any lawyer or politician balancing press and personal values.
Despite Lincoln constantly exuding wholesome wisdom and total integrity, he still has a game to play, and his democratic opposition, spearheaded and represented by the obnoxious but still quite humanly ambitious Fernando Wood (Lee Pace) more than once attacks Lincoln by calling him a corrupt tyrant for all the times he's taken matters into his own hands. It is curious that Lincoln never sets foot in the constitution. One does wonder how different the chaotic debates would be if he was there to bring them to a steady pace with his lengthy sermon-like anecdotes. Instead, he's the omnipresent but invisible steering force of the amendment. Director Steven Spielberg treats his relationship with his ministers as that between Jesus and his disciples, which, despite much historical evidence that suggests otherwise, does make for a very uplifting film.
Where Lincoln differs from his other great historical dramas is that while we are expected to sit through and contemplate the complex, austere details of the constitution, which, as adults, we're more than happy about, we are sheltered from the grisly, realistic details of the issue that is actually being dealt with. In the occasional shots and snippets of dialogue that are handed to the black African-Americans themselves, they are depicted as mere, meek, wide-eyed naïfs either waiting innocently for liberation, or grateful for being already rescued from slavery. This is purely a portrait of Lincoln's contribution to anti-slavery, but perhaps a fuller representation of the movement as a whole, which includes the many strong-willed (and female no less) black activists, would have been more interesting than something that comes across as a little too biblical at times.
More to its credit, though, the film is very much attuned to the atrocities of the civil war, which, like slavery, is mostly discussed on an intellectual by distanced middle-aged white gentleman, but still more than adequately documented visually. The huge loss of life is talked about in numbers, but it is also shown in very confronting, gruesome scenes. Much of their impact comes from the fact that the opening scene is of a fierce battle and one of the very last shows Lincoln sombrely and respectfully riding on horseback through the trenches piled with bloodied,tragically youthful bodies.
Lincoln tells a perfectly immersive dramatic story, but it is a story, not really history, and it's important to remember that this is largely an opportunity to display Spielberg's dramatic flair (especially with a very affecting portrayal of Lincoln's assassination), and the prowess of countless veteran actors (most especially the remarkably versatile and committed Daniel Day-Lewis as the great president, and also Tommy Lee Jones at his most effectively sour-faced), with some added political reality to strengthen the piece, but not ground it too solidly.