A word of advice to those who are not familiar with American history: do some research first on the last four months of Abraham Lincoln in office and you'll have a clearer understanding and appreciation on how great the man was and the legacy he left not only in the United States but also the world.
Daniel Day Lewis gives another outstanding performance as the revered 16th President of the United States in the Steven Spielberg directed film. Unlike his past two acclaimed flashier performances in Gangs of New York and There Will Be Blood in which he received his second Oscar for Best Actor, Day Lewis is much restrained in his interpretation of Lincoln. He humanizes the man that most Americans consider the greatest President they had and puts a persona that most of us only knew him through his iconic stature and built. It also helps that guided by make-up artists, he does look like the one we see on a five dollar bill.
The film focuses more on the two legacies of Lincoln: the abolition of slavery and the end of the Civil War. Even though the film was set in 1865, the political dealings on and the way Washington DC politics works still applies to today in every part of the world. It was an eye opener to see through the film and aided by Tony Kushner's elegant script on how a key piece of legislation was passed during the days where life was so simple in which there were no machines and gadgets to instantly update the citizenry.
Sally Field (as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln) and Tommy Lee Jones (as Abolitionist Congressman Thaddeus Stevens) are outstanding in their supporting roles. Joseph Gordon Levitt, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, Lee Pace and David Strathairn also gave commendable performances in their roles.
Lincoln is unlike any other Steven Spielberg that I had seen before. Cinematography, Art Direction and Production were inspired by those indie British historical films. The only signature scenes from the director that I noticed in the film was President Lincoln's bonding moments with his youngest son Willie (played by Chase Edmunds).
Lincoln opens this Friday November 9 in limited release and goes wide on the 16th all across the US.
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