A new level for Daniel Day-Lewis

Rating: 7/10 (28 April 2016)

This film tells the efforts of President Abraham Lincoln to approve in Congress a constitutional amendment to end slavery in the United States. Directed by Steven Spielberg, has a Tony Kushner's script, and Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role.
Its not a novelty that the abolition of slavery in the U.S. was made incredibly late compared to other countries, such as France, the United Kingdom or Portugal (the small European country was one of the first to promote large-scale slavery but was also one of the first countries in the world to abolish it completely). See this movie elucidates us the reason: the economic strength of slavery was huge and during the civil war there was a fierce opposition to the abolitionist campaigns, even in the North. Lincoln is portrayed as being immune to everything and everyone, struggling to make the amendment pass. But the racism was omnipresent in U.S. that time, and some scenes of this film forget that and put the President in direct contact with colored people, something that probably never happened in formal contexts. Despite some partiality in the way Lincoln was portrayed, and some historical inaccuracies, the script is very good and show us the real bureaucracy that, even today, was necessary to approves the amendment. The performance of the actors was also good, particularly Day-Lewis, who almost metamorphosed himself to play the iconic U.S. president and deserved the Oscar for Best Actor who won with that. Also the costumes, sets and makeup were at the highest level. John Williams signed the soundtrack, as usually happens in Spielberg's films, but it didn't shine as intensely as often shines.
An good film that addresses a turning point in American history, this film has good quality but is far from being one of the best of Spielberg. However, undoubtedly marks a new stage in Daniel Day- Lewis's career, which becomes the only actor in film history to receive the Oscar for Best Actor three times.