Spielberg shows us History

Rating: 5/10 (26 January 2013)

Politics is a dirty business. 'Lincoln' shows us that this has been the case for at least 150 years. Lying, scheming and lobbying were as much a part of the decision making process in Lincoln's time as they are now. Lincoln himself isn't afraid of a few dirty tricks in order to realize his great ideal: the abolition of slavery.
The film portrays Lincoln as a tormented man, torn between his political goals and his democratic principles. To make matters worse, he also has family problems: his wife is not supportive at all, and his son plans to endanger his own life by joining the war that Lincoln wants to end.
It seems like this is good material for a solid historical drama. Still, I didn't enjoy the movie very much. To put everything in the right historical context, there are lots of subplots and side stories that are sometimes difficult to understand for someone who isn't very familiar with Lincoln's life. Large parts of the movie consist of politicians talking about 19th century politics. And some parts are even completely incomprehensible without knowledge about the historical context, like the scene at the Appomattox courthouse. For Americans, this probably is a very famous event in the history of the Civil War. But for Europeans these events are not common knowledge.
Watching the movie, it's tempting to compare with what's going on now. When a black soldier says he hopes that blacks can have the vote 'in 100 years', I couldn't help thinking that 150 years later, the US has a black president. The final scene of Lincoln giving his second inauguration speech reminded me of Obama's second inauguration speech, only a few days ago. And the scene of Lincoln and his aides sitting by some sort of telegraph machine, waiting for news about the battle at Wilmington, is very similar to the famous photograph of Obama and his entourage following the operations leading to the capturing and killing of Osama Bin Laden.
Although Steven Spielberg doesn't portray Lincoln as a saint, but as a man with doubts and sorrow, it is still a very patriotic movie. One of the strongest quotes in the film comes from the speaker of the House. When one of the congressmen says it is very unusual for the speaker to cast a vote, he answers: 'This is not usual, this is history'. That's the spirit throughout the whole movie. Spielberg wants to show us History.