Nothing short of a masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (26 January 2013)

Lincoln, through every second of its runtime, evokes such an overwhelming array of emotions that it is nearly impossible to explain exactly how one feels about the film, only that one truly feels the film. The film centers around the last year of the Civil War, in January, during which President Lincoln was attempting to get the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution passed through the House of Representatives.
At the center of this is Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th President, with a performance so fully realized and engaging that it won't be hard to see DD-L winning his third Oscar for it. His Lincoln is a humble and quiet man, wrapped in untold strength and charisma, loving to regale his cabinet, staff, and anyone who'll listen with stories. Huge, huge chunks of the film are little more than Daniel Day-Lewis telling stories, but each and every second his Lincoln is on-screen he demands the fullest attention. The brilliance of his performance lies in its subtleties, his posture, the way he moves his hands, the way he crafts every single word and sentence as if it is the most important he'll say in an entire lifetime. For a period drama with no action the runtime is in no way a hindrance at almost 2-1/2 hours; in fact it only lends more time for the audience to fall incontrovertibly in love with the man and the entire film.
This is so easily accomplished because of the attention to detail on the part of everyone in the production, from the actors to the director, to the costume and set design. Spielberg's attention to detail on historical pieces such as this is nothing short of perfect; he brings the audience right back to 1865 in the film, completely immersing the audience. Yet the comparisons to modern day are unmistakable; a largely political film, it spends a great deal of time on the floor of the House while Democrats and Republicans attack one another over the cause of ending slavery. This immediately draws comparisons with modern politics. Yet it goes to educate audiences about American political history, in that it has always been a dirty game, a hard-fought battle in the trenches of the houses of Congress and the White House. Indeed, the modern political scene isn't the only one of gridlock, of impassioned arguments on both sides of the floor, of favors and political grandstanding.
Spielberg assembles a masterful cast here alongside DD-L and each choice was made brilliantly. Beside him is Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, her performance a whirlwind of strength and fragility wrapped into one. It is with Field's Mary that DD-L's Lincoln has many of his best scenes, from quieter moments to continued mourning over the death of Willy Lincoln, to angry and explosive fighting. Their performances together are simply brilliant, each character exhausted from fighting so many battles separately and together, but at their core there is a tenderness and love that is irreplaceable.
Tommy Lee Jones is absolutely magnificent in the film as abolitionist firebrand Thaddeus Stevens. His speeches and his moments in the film are by far its most passionate offerings, with Jones infusing his Stevens with so much life and hostility at the very notion that freedom and equality are not the rights of every man. His words are chilling, with Jones delivering them with such power and depth. Also standing out in the amazing cast as Secretary of State William Seward is David Strathairn, who gives a fantastic performance as Lincoln's main confidant and friend.
Yet the biggest praise must go to Spielberg for his absolutely incredible direction. This is a man who has received a great deal of flak over the last decade, with many suggesting that he has lost a step. This film, make no mistake, is the master returning to what makes him great. Spielberg is such a brilliant and masterful storyteller; his images on the screen tell stories that words never could. In a particular scene, Lincoln is pulled in two different directions: end the war, or end slavery? An impossible decision to make, but Day-Lewis pulls off the tug-of-war going on inside of the president with such beautiful precision, each facet of those decisions cutting him like a knife. He sits alone in the telegraph room with two other men, telling a story that will inevitably lead him to his decision. Spielberg shoots it from a very high angle, with the president and the two men in the very corner of the shot, the remainder of the room completely empty- it represents the solitude Lincoln feels in his decision, as many in his cabinet feel that ending the war is the more important course of action. Few directors know how to tell a story with the camera so well as Spielberg, and when he gets it as right as he does in Lincoln, there are simply no words of praise adequate enough to heap onto him for the incredible work.
Let it be said, in no uncertain terms, that Lincoln is a masterpiece. Spielberg weaves together such a complex set of narratives, directing every single one of them through the masterful performance of Daniel Day-Lewis, whose utter strength of character is spellbinding. It reminds us that Abraham Lincoln, for all that loved and hated him (and kudos to all involved for showing us both sides of that coin), was a president who was tasked with impossibly mountainous tasks, and yet with the help of great people around him he completed them. Lincoln's narrative is so moving, and demands such an emotional investment that by the time it all ends in the way that every single American knows the life of Abraham Lincoln ended, there is little more to do than sit and stare transfixed as the final credits roll, tears falling, overwhelmed in ways unimaginable.
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