Spielberg's Best Since Schindler's List

Rating: 10/10 (6 April 2013)

Lincoln is a historical drama film that features Daniel Day-Lewis as United States President Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln.The cast includes David Strathairn,Joseph Gordon-Levitt,James Spader,Hal Holbrook and Tommy Lee Jones.It is based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's biography Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.The film covers the final four months of Lincoln's life, focusing on the President's efforts in January 1865 to have the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed by the United States House of Representatives.It was directed by Steven Spielberg.
In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, President Abraham Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery. Expecting the Civil War to end within a month but concerned that his 1863 Emancipation Proclamation may be discarded by the courts once the war has concluded and the 13th Amendment defeated by the returning slave states, Lincoln feels it is imperative to pass the amendment by the end of January, thus removing any possibility that slaves who have already been freed may be re- enslaved. The Radical Republicans fear the amendment will merely be defeated by some who wish to delay its passage; the support of the amendment by Republicans in the border states is not yet assured either, since they prioritize the issue of ending the war. Even if all of them are ultimately brought on board, the amendment will still require the support of several Democratic congressmen if it is to pass. With dozens of Democrats having just become lame ducks after losing their re- election campaigns in the fall of 1864, some of Lincoln's advisers believe that he should wait until the new Republican-heavy Congress is seated, presumably giving the amendment an easier road to passage. Lincoln, however, remains adamant about having the amendment in place and the issue of slavery settled before the war is concluded and the southern states readmitted into the Union.Lincoln's hopes for passage of the amendment rely upon the support of the Republican Party founder Francis Preston Blair, the only one whose influence can ensure that all members of the western and border state conservative Republican faction will back the amendment. With Union victory in the Civil War seeming highly likely and greatly anticipated, but not yet a fully accomplished fact, Blair is keen to end the hostilities as soon as possible. Therefore, in return for his support, Blair insists that Lincoln allow him to immediately engage the Confederate government in peace negotiations.With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come.
Lincoln paints a powerful and compelling portrait of the man who has become an icon. We don't need to see more of his life to understand how rare a figure he was as this film is more than sufficient as it masterfully captures the dual dilemmas facing the president in the final months of his life: how to bring the war between the states to an end, and how to eradicate slavery, once and for all.Daniel Day-Lewis portraying President Lincoln characteristically delivers in this witty, dignified portrait that immerses the audience in its world and entertains even as it informs.No wonder that this is easily Spielberg's best picture since Schindler's List.