Lincoln: Capturing the Inspiration of History

 Spielberg’s Lincoln was released this week and yours truly got a chance to see it. I love history and was actually a history major in university, a history geek in high school and an extremely annoying walking history textbook as a child, and that being said: I LOVED THIS MOVIE! It’s such an exciting experience for me to have history come to life through my absolutely favorite form of art: movies!   

All throughout this movie I couldn’t help but think: “Wow, how incredibly well spoken these people are!” Dialogue is surely a strong point in this brilliant epic. And no wonder, Tony Kushner wrote the screenplay.

For those of you who don’t know, Tony Kushner is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of the magnificent play, Angels in America, political epic about the AIDS crisis in the U.S. He also wrote the movie adaptation for it, which stars Al Pacino and Meryl Streep. Absolutely brilliant: a must see.

Now, back to this spectacle of a movie Spielberg has created—what truly enrapturing performances! Yes, I will confirm it, Mr. Abraham Lincoln, played by Daniel Day Lewis, is fantastic! And Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln brings much needed movie friction and drama to the screen as she quarrels and weeps with Mr. President. Lincoln however settles their disputes with words of utmost eloquence, mesmerizing even the most irate soul. I left the movie inspired to take orator classes!

And, wow! Tommy Lee Jones (Thaddeus Stevens)! Wow! I loved his performance: witty, yet, extremely deep, flamboyant, yet, perfectly serious. A right dose of everything! I feel like his character added so much oomph to the movie. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have these lovable characters for your audience to root and cheer for. Especially in a historical epic such as this one, you certainly don’t want your audience drowning in too many historical facts.

All of these amazing performances really don’t make my job any easier—no critic truly wants a movie with nothing to criticize—but I’ll make an exception with this one. I have one little bitty item to criticize: how could anyone possibly take Tommy Lee Jones seriously with that dreadful wig!? That wig is HILARIOUS!

But actually, I can’t even really criticize the wig. After watching the movie I came home and did some historical research on the characters—Wikipedia obviously—and to my surprise found that the real Thaddeus Stevens has a wig EXACTLY like the one Tommy Lee Jones was wearing…oh.

But back to my new oration inspiration: Abraham Lincoln is one of our most admired and revered American Presidents. His actions changed the lives of millions and until today his eloquent words resonate in our ears:

“The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” –Abraham Lincoln

Ladies and gentlemen, a classic masterpiece of American history!