Nordling here.
By now, most people know where I come from on Steven Spielberg. He is, and will always be, my favorite director. More than any other director, he is responsible for my adoration and love of cinema.
While I am inclined to make bold statements about Spielberg movies, there is no denying there is passion in every frame of LINCOLN. For those two and a half hours, we live and breathe, celebrate and mourn in that world. It is utterly transporting and genuine, and it does not need bombast or those rousing John Williams-inspired moments (although his score is quite good). Spielberg embraces the quieter moments of LINCOLN with such grace and restraint that the movie earns every emotion and every bursting, powerful moment. Perhaps it’s cliché to say that Steven Spielberg has never made a movie quite like LINCOLN – a movie that is far more interested in the power of spoken word and smart people discussing important things than in spectacular imagery, or actors staring off into the middle distance as something amazing happens before their eyes.
Partially based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s TEAM OF RIVALS, Tony Kushner’s (ANGELS IN AMERICA) work here shows us the nuts and bolts of America, and while Kushner’s script isn’t naïve in how messy democracy can get, it rings with an optimism that is impossible to deny. It is also not afraid to be as intelligent as it can be, and damn those who cannot ride along with it – at one point, Lincoln says, “Oh, the joys of being comprehended,” and Kushner’s script is all about the pleasure of smart, witty dialogue. The script takes great joy in sitting back in a corner while such rich conversations play out, every word dripping like honey off the lips. Listening to it is a genuine thrill – the cadence and flow of it reminded me quite a bit of MILLER’S CROSSING. This is the best-written Steven Spielberg movie to date, bar none. This isn’t a mere civics lesson on display, but living, breathing government at work.
LINCOLN takes place during the final four months of President Abraham Lincoln’s (Daniel Day-Lewis) life. Although the war is winding down, thousands of Americans are dying, and it looks like the South will not surrender willingly. Newly elected to his second term, although Lincoln has passed the Emancipation Proclamation, it is largely considered to be a wartime powers act, and could very well be thrown aside once the war ends. LINCOLN follows the 13th Amendment as it makes its way to the House of Representatives. Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn) does everything in his power, legal and not-quite-legal, to ensure its passage during the lame duck session of Congress before the newly elected members take over. Lincoln knows that the Amendment will never pass once the South and the North cease fighting. He must reluctantly ally himself with the more radical members of the Republican Party, led by Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones) if the 13th Amendment has any hope of passing, and must also figure out how to negotiate with those Democrats who could help make the 13th Amendment into law. Lincoln is running out of time – once the lame duck session ends, Congress will have no impetus to pass it, and if the war ends, the 13th Amendment could die right then and there.
Lincoln is also dealing with familial strife. His son Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) wants to join in the fight, and Mary Todd (Sally Field) is trying to hold everything together, all the while still grieving for her lost son William. Tad (Gulliver McGrath) clings to his father like a lifeboat, still reeling from the loss of his brother. There are moments in these scenes that that come across as a bit melodramatic and don’t quite work, but Sally Field is remarkable as the troubled Mary Todd. Field fills Mary Todd with life and makes her more than a simple caricature. Her scenes with Day-Lewis are strong and truthful, and both actors bring that complicated, tumultuous relationship to life in a way that feels genuine.
And then there is Daniel Day-Lewis. He dominates every moment onscreen, but he does not simply fill the space with bluster or grandiose speeches. The true power of Day-Lewis' work comes when Lincoln doesn’t speak at all. Day-Lewis’ performance is so nuanced that you can see him listening, storing every moment and word into his mind. Lincoln is a jokester, a storyteller, and Day-Lewis takes his Lincoln to a spiritual place that I don’t think any other actor playing this role has gone. There really aren’t enough superlatives to describe how good Day-Lewis is in this, but he brings Lincoln to life in such a way that he feels real and not simply a piece of history. Day-Lewis plays Lincoln with a keen mind that hungers for any new bit of information, devouring every piece of new intelligence like a child eating candy. There is such real joy and heartbreak in Day-Lewis’s work that although you can’t take your eyes off him when he is onscreen, it almost hurts to look at him.
There are so many amazing performances in LINCOLN – not only of Day-Lewis and Field, but of pretty much every actor. It could be said that every character actor working in Hollywood today plays a role in LINCOLN, including such actors as John Hawkes or Jackie Earle Haley, who all do terrific work. But several stand out, especially Tommy Lee Jones as Stevens, as a man so full of passion that it threatens to overwhelm him and his lifelong goal to end slavery. James Spader is surprising and terrific as a not-quite-reputable man hired by Seward to get House members to vote for the Amendment, doing acts that aren’t quite ethical (or legal). Strathairn as Seward is the voice of pragmatism for Lincoln – while Lincoln weighs all his options, Seward must make sure that the President’s will is done, even if he is not sure that it is the right thing to do. Finally, Hal Holbrook, always great, brings dignity and weight to Blair, who wants to end the war as soon as possible, whatever it takes, even if it means losing the Amendment.
Even the film’s portrayal of the Republican Party is glorious and complicated. LINCOLN reminds us that this is a party that truly championed freeing millions from bondage and torture. Whatever your opinion of that party today, LINCOLN does not forget that the Republican Party changed everything, for the glory of humanity. LINCOLN in its purest, most patriotic heart is not afraid to shy away from the difficulty and the animosity that has always made up our government, but also acknowledges that through that strife we are made better for it. Sometimes, in the tumult of today, it is difficult to remember that. LINCOLN reminds us of a patriotism that comes from the knowledge that no matter how messy things get, no matter how much we yell and scream, when we come together, we achieve great, great things.
LINCOLN assures us that genuine love of country and for our fellow Americans regardless of any differences, even in times of great strife, is always possible. This is a love letter to democracy, and it reminds us that through all the insults, the anger, the passion, and the speeches, the work of our nation proceeds. One particular moment in the movie, as the camera pans over the House of Representatives as they comprehend the momentous act that they have done, still burns in my mind.
As far as Steven Spielberg goes, he has crafted such a marvelous work here, unlike anything he’s really attempted before. I remember in one documentary about his work that Spielberg has said that the common theme in all of his movies is the simple power of communication, and how wonderful and compelling that has always been, and how it makes for such amazing drama. With LINCOLN, Spielberg has created a work for the ages, a movie so powerful and rich with emotion, but never sentimental for sentimentality’s sake. Every emotion is earned, every moment rings true. It could be said that LINCOLN overstays its welcome a little bit (considering everyone knows how it ends, Spielberg takes the more obvious approach when a little bit of restraint would have done wonders), but LINCOLN is some of the best work Spielberg has ever done. He trusts that the story is so compelling that he knows enough to get out of its way. It is one of Steven Spielberg’s very best movies. It is an utter triumph.
