FilmBah Watches: Lincoln

  

Spielberg's Lincoln is one of the three Pro-American nominees at the Best Picture race this year, that probably looked like an odd choice to reach Malaysian cinemas. Unlike Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, which would have likely resonated better with Malaysian audiences due to its currency to modern real-world events, I highly doubt that the average Malaysian viewer in the cinema hall with me as I was watching this would know much about the 16th President of the United States and their American history. Heck, even we can't figure out who truly owns Sabah, so history has never been our strongest suit. 

Then again, the Malaysian distributor could have been banking on the image of the president as an axe-wielding badass slayer in a pseudo-biographical depiction, but I can't complain that I would get the chance to go see at least one out of the three 'Murica films in one of our hypocritical hate for Zionist screens, in case I would never see the other two (in the bigscreen, anyway).

Fake hate aside, my expectations for Lincoln were still high since this was Spielberg's next serious attempt to snag the Best Picture and to add another trophy Best Director trophy so that he could start giving them out for charity. But I'm not just saying that because Spielberg's name is attached. No. It was after that beautifully rendered opening scene of Daniel Day Lewis' Lincoln talking to the black and white soldiers. So beautiful that they could've just ended the movie there and then, and I would be writing a glorious review of how it deserved to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

But it didn't win the Oscar for Best Picture. For a reason. 

It's almost the end of the American Civil War after four years of bloody battles, as the Union are closing in to force a surrender from the Confederacy. After making the Proclamation of Emancipation, President Lincoln, who is re-elected for his second term as the President (of the Union), is eager to have the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed through the House of Representatives, that will abolish the right to own men as property. Going against his legislation are the Democrats who understands that by removing slavery in the country could prolong the Civil War as a paradoxical legal conflict of interest could make the Confederacy withdraw their terms for peace. In his last days, President Lincoln must win the political favours to have enough votes from the House to have the Amendment passed as he struggles with his own moral dilemmas as a war-time President to end the war and his own personal wars. 

I read a review that compared Lincoln to a more than 2 hour long episode of The West Wing and I don't think they are far away from the truth. There are great lines from Tony Kushner's script, but there just aren't as many great moments to love the film, even from the few moments that showcased Daniel Day Lewis' performance as Abraham Lincoln. The enclosed scenes were suffocating, and even the solemn and sombre moment of Lincoln trotting through a dead-strewn wide open battlefield (with the exception of the opening scene) gets choked by the PG13 rating.

The performance is phenomenal but it's a little more difficult to judge Daniel Day Lewis' impersonation as Abarham Lincoln because unlike the more recent impersonations by Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady, and Michelle Yeoh in The Lady; both of which are based on still-living icons with plenty of video footage to reference from, history scholars and public opinion haven't been able to agree on the pitch of the revered President's voice. But his characterization as a loner, a slight oddball, a less fiery persona than you would imagine for someone clothed in immense power, not always a great orator but a fatherly deliverer of parables, and having frailties that are all too human is why Daniel Day Lewis' performance is the only one that could elevate the myth of why he was called Honest Abe. But while getting caught in the political debate, there are probably more memorable moments involving the other players - and every player is a star here - of the 13th Amendment than the total number of scenes with Lincoln in it.

Yes, wars are fought and won in a room filled with gentlemen.

If War Horse didn't win Best Picture for being too manipulative, Lincoln didn't win it for me because it's just wasn't manipulative enough, and trust me, I wanted to be manipulated, especially by the everlasting combinations of Spielberg's direction, with the precise cinematography of Janusz Kaminski and the heart-stirring orchestrations of John Williams. But none of that seemed to work. Not even the eventual death of the president or his final speech caused a quiver. A faltering courage against utmost respect probably caused more harm than binding up the wounds of this film. 

It was hard to appreciate Lincoln in the end. But then again, this is probably mainly due to a lack of a firm grasp on the historical context on my part, and what I'm seeing is an advanced class of American history that can only be  felt by someone who could recite the Gettysburg Address from heart.