Refreshed Portrait of Heroic, Righteous Man of History

Rating: 8/10 (10 March 2013)

"Whatever you are, be a good one" (Abraham Lincoln)
"Moving and honorably high minded film" (Peter Bradshaw, "The Guardian"); "about statesmanship, politics, the creation of the world's greatest democracy" (Phillips French, "The Observer"); "a movie of confidence" (Allen Guelzo) which "brings past vividly to life" (James Berardinelli). Goodness! Doesn't it occur suspicious that such a difficult undertaking as bringing an eminent historical figure to screen is appears to be widely praised by both film critics and historians. A historical movie which satisfies such a vast majority of 'eggheads' is, strangely, a lucky one. Yes, you do have the right to have doubts until you decide to see the movie. The leading performance makes most of them perish.
Roger Ebert memorably states in his November 2012 review that what, perhaps, Steven Spielberg's movie has done best is the fact it introduced Lincoln as "a plain-spoken, practical, down-to-earth man from the farmlands of Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois." Indeed, Spielberg's movie deals with issues galore and, as Allen Guelzo, the director of the Civil War studies at the Gettysburg College, points out, "the pains taken in the name of historical authenticity are worth hailing," but it FOREMOST supplies the viewer (more or less acknowledged historically) with a truly refreshed, humane portrait of this righteous, heroic man of history. Since it is impossible to focus on a variety of the film's virtues, let me highlight the persona of Abraham Lincoln herein depicted within the context of his supreme decision of immense significance for the history of the USA and its worldwide spread ideal of freedom.
Inevitably, there are two concepts of the 16th president of the United States as a historic personality adapted to the screen (and, presumably, one cannot exist without the other and, essentially, one cannot occur superior to the other): seeing him politically as a nation's hero in the turmoiled times of Civil War and seeing him socially as a man, a husband, a father. These two must co-exist. While the exaggeration with the former concept will inevitably result in Utopian idealism, historical glorification and means of cold marble stone hardly applicable to modern viewers, the overestimation of the latter concept will rescue Lincoln of history and display a solely individual drama. Spielberg with his screenwriter Tony Kushner who based the script on the literary source by Doris Kearns Goodwin and echoed some notions developed by Gore Vidal in his novel LINCOLN, do not make a masterpiece. Kushner could write shorter script but he, presumably, got started and was too lazy to stop. The film's flaws, therefore, lie in its length and wordy script (which, on the other hand, Guelzo calls "high quality talkiness"). But what they skillfully aspire to is the emotional combination of political, national, social and individual contexts. Here, one can agree with Peter Bradshaw that, in this way, the producers manage to "dramatize the formality."
While the Civil War remains in the background and the time span of the considerably lengthy film depicts a chronologically short period, the two aspects, immense in their significance, appear at the core: one supplies the film with masterful acting and the other one with masterful tensions: Daniel Day-Lewis' portrayal of Lincoln which displays an actor who does not just "play" the character but "inhabits" him (James Berardinelli) and these few weeks in January 1865 known for the 'incendiary' (Phillip French, 'The Observer') passage of the 13th Amendment in the House of Representatives, with the sequence that Guelzo accurately calls 'courtroom drama.'
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS - LINCOLN SCREEN MEMORIAL: Hailed as a "towering performance" by many, "unparalleled" (Daniel Walber) "a Shakespearian figure somewhere between Caesar and Prospero" (Bradshaw), Day-Lewis handles the role with tremendous sophistication and quintessential abilities of an actor. Solely his portrayal of Lincoln makes the film worth seeing. Such 'lifetime roles' can never be duplicated. The actor's supreme achievement is a combination of the inner and the outer, the hints of thoughts and the means of communicating them. Therefore, Guelzo rightly observes that the actor "captures Lincoln's canniness and his awkwardness, his external simplicity and his internal complexity." With reference to Lincoln's quotation which I entailed at the beginning of the review, he is a man whose approach is rather based upon inspiration than imposition. He is neither a hero not a god, an idol but himself a man of contradictions. As a result, the Gettysburg Address, in one of the most powerfully incorporated scenes of the movie, something that Bradshaw calls "Sorkinian scene" is not spoken by Lincoln but by simple soldiers. The family relations, particularly depicting Lincoln's wife (played skillfully by Sally Field) makes Lincoln a man with his personal torments. He is a man among others, misunderstood by others in both the family and the government. A performance that deserves the name 'masterpiece.'
The SUPPORTING CAST deliver something deliciously unique. Who stands out as "the moral center of the film" (Daniel Walber) is Thaddeus Stevens played brilliantly by Tommy Lee Jones. He is the abolitionist of the movie, he 'dramatizes the formality' in the House of Representatives sequence where, as Guelzo points out "unholy political means obtain holy political ends." Ambiguously, through this 'incendiary' and significant issue, the movie clearly addresses the nature of politics and places certain controversial notions at the center of attention. Jared Harris does a marginal yet memorable job as General Ulysses Grant, David Strathain plays a tricky game as the secretary of state, Seward and Hal Holbrook, the actor who already played Lincoln in the 1980s, highlights an interesting personality of Francis Preston Blair.
Everything along with the finale seems to correspond to the unique personality and a timeless example. Although the opening dream sequence has set the tone for the sentiments herein developed, the finale brings us to a highly timeless and profound conclusion. Embarking towards an unknown shore, this time, to see his Jerusalem and to walk the way of righteous 'kings.' 8/10 for the entire movie, 10/10 for Day-Lewis 'towering' performance.