Lincoln - What a waste

It is now time to talk about a much acclaimed film that in my opinion has a lot of problems, Lincoln, Spielberg’s apparently amazing film that had many viewers failing to see through the hype. The film’s plot is a little self-explanatory given the film’s title; it is a biopic which is about the time period towards the end of the civil war in which Lincoln attempted to pass the thirteenth amendment which would ban slavery from the United States forever. This alleged masterpiece stars Daniel Day Lewis and Sally Field as Mr and Mrs Lincoln, as well as a whole host of acclaimed supporting actors which are a testament to Spielberg as an iconic director.

I cannot talk about this film without discussing Daniel Day Lewis' inspired performance as Lincoln himself, his performance is truly sublime, and he infuses Lincoln with a likeness that is uncanny, intensely realistic, to a point that we fail to even see the actor through the performance, and seem to almost be watching a documentary. Sally Field portrays Lincoln's wife, she is actually to old for the role, as Lincoln's wife was much younger than the man himself, yet field is 16 years older than Day Lewis, yet this goes unnoticed due to Field portraying Mary Todd with a grace and an elegance, and infuses her with a humanity that almost steals the show.

Now we come to the rather bad parts, although I credit this film for the fact that it focused on a specific moment in Lincoln's life, the main problem with this film is that it doesn't really allow us to empathize with Lincoln as a character, and the film tends to place Lincoln on a pedestal in such a way that we are never allowed to get to know Lincoln, and that even though he is humanized to an extent, mainly due to Daniel Day Lewis' performance and not to the script, we never feel like we truly know him. That's not to say that the film doesn't show Lincoln's flaws, we are shown his failings as a father and as a husband. 

Yet our failings to relate to him are due to the fact that throughout the film all the takes place in typical biopic style 'Gettysburg address' speech, in which each statement sounds like a proclamation, and this makes the whole film seem almost like a theater presentation, and not in a good way. These proclamations make tha character of Lincoln seem like a historical figure and not a character, and means that we are unable to connect with Lincoln as a character, and means that overall this film fails in providing us with an insight into Lincoln's character. In rating this film i feel that i must give two ratings, the film is a poor insight into Lincoln as a person, yet features stunning performances from its large ensemble cast, in particular that of Daniel Day Lewis and Sally Field, so overall Rating: B (lead performances Rating: A+)

Abraham Lincoln: [giving a speech at a dedication raising the flag] The part assigned to me is to raise the flag which, if there be no fault in the machinery, I will do. And, when up, it shall be for the people to keep it up. That's my speech.