Creating History

Rating: 10/10 (26 February 2013)

Lincoln is not entirely the whole biography of Abraham Lincoln. It's not about his life, nor how he became a president but it is the story how he became a great one. It features no origin or back stories. Its central focus is when he fought against slavery. One might not expect it to be a two hour film of lecturing and making decisions. Some might not enjoy it in that way but if you have the right mind and the heart to know the history then you'll get an interesting experience. With a bold direction and a remarkable performance from a brilliant actor, what possibly could go wrong? It's still surprisingly talky but it is also surprisingly engrossing.
The film's story for Abraham Lincoln is how he became a remarkable President. The film didn't gloss at the honest man. He'll always be the one who's having a hard time, surrounded by complicated decisions. He's never portrayed as perfect. He's just like anyone else, except he's wiser and acts like a father to anyone. He sometimes tells stories and such. The film may not show his childhood or anything in his past but you can see what kind of man he is. When it talks about the history, it serves an easy narration, but complexity displays when everybody inside is shouting out their opinions at each other.
Aside all, it spends most of the time discussing in places. It sometimes feels Shakespearean. The first act is a little slow for some reason, but the entertainment rises in every sequence. It gets a lot more interesting in the courtroom scenes. The performances brings some excitement. Every scene with Tommy Lee Jones in the court is difficult to ignore. It's a terribly striking performance, but the best performance is, of course, Daniel Day-Lewis who is, without a doubt, fantastic as Abraham Lincoln. It's totally fascinating performance that anyone would feel he's the real Lincoln himself. The rest are fantastic as well for spicing up everything else.
The film is almost a series of meetings. Outside the conversations, we get to see the tragedies going around and Lincoln's personal life, while he's handling his family's issues and the nation's struggle. Steven Spielberg may take an impressive new direction for the film, but his trademark drama elements still fills in the gravity moments. He never leaves his original style behind. In the filmmaking side, the production and the cinematography gives a spectacular look at the scenes.
The title, Lincoln, doesn't refer as the entire life of Abraham Lincoln. It's all about how the name "Lincoln" became famous and memorable throughout history because of one legend's remarkable achievement. The film shows a rather interesting way of portraying its history. It mostly explores inside the Civil War with politicians fighting their decisions. It may not be the usual type of entertainment for some, but seriously, it's all about the history and the film never backs away from that. Lincoln is generally thought-provoking and mesmerizing by its strong dialogue, and brilliant direction and performances, added with magnificent filmmaking.