The only redeeming quality about watching Steven Spielberg's candidate win reelection earlier this month was eagerly waiting to watch his movie about Abraham Lincoln, which was released yesterday. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th President, my two sons and I were counting the minutes when we could see the big-budget Hollywood treatment of the man responsible for the War Between the States.
Of course, the craftsmanship of the film is exceptional. And my biggest fear was not realized: that we'd be stuck with another drawn out visual snoozer a'la War Horse. This was remedied by Tony Kushner's strong script which went the route all period dramas should, which is do the best you can with historic language. This script in turn forced Speilberg to rely on his skill with the camera to deliver the diaglogue-reliant story without falling into the boredom which can come from, say, a poorly-stage Shakespeare play. And, I earnestly believe Daniel Day-Lewis is the greatest actor of our time. I don't fawn after his movies, but Lewis is unbelievable - or fully believeable - in this role. I actually thought it was Lincoln from the very start.
Here, however, I have to stop the good words. Blame the history nerd within. Spielberg and Kushner do accomplish one lone service to the record: that Mary Todd Lincoln (played by Sally Field) was not completely deranged as First Lady. In fact, she was every bit the political animal Lincoln was, and that comes across masterfully by Field at sweet moments in the couple's scenes. The tragedies of her life were hard on her, undoubtedly, and it is true that she had trouble holding herself together as the years went on, but the real Mary Todd was quite lucid and sharp in the interval. Lincoln probably would not have made it to be the President to push through the 13th Amendment had it not been for her.
Otherwise Lincoln tells one big liberal lie that is hard to stomach, and it does it with a uniquely Leninist technique: by embellishing history. The film's plot is built around passage of the 13th Amendment in the House of Representatives. Passage of an amending resolution (an H.J.Res) requires a 2/3rds majority in each chamber before it is sent out to the states for ratification, as set forth by the Constitution. In early 1865, Lincoln needed 20 votes beyond the Republican bloc in order to get this. In the movie, an affable crew of political fixers, including an especially greasy James Spader, set out to bribe congressmen they suspect are ripe for the corrupting.
Yes, the record reveals that considerable horse-trading was done by the administration with congressmen to get passage. The record does not, however, suggest anything to the degree of corruption portrayed in the film. I guess having a unit of "plumbers" supported by the White House is ok as long as they are pursuing a liberal agenda. But dirty politics aside, the deeper, uniquely liberal lie of the film is encapsualted by Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones, who was Al Gore's college roommate) at the film's end: "The greatest measure of the 19th Century was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America." In other words, the means are irrelevant as long as your motives are righteous. Knowing of the filmmakers' mega-support of President Obama, this line is nauseating, frankly. I was being pleasantly entertained by Spielberg, et.al, until I was forced to hear the jarring note of an Obamacare commercial.
Anyway, these are my thoughts. Go to see it just to witness Day-Lewis' grand performance. To keep your inner history nerd from spoiling all the fun, check out this handy article from The Kansas City Star which does the fact-checking for you. WARNING: spoilers.
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