Speaking of the topic in my last blog post, I saw the movie Lincoln this past weekend and I have to say it was the best movie I’ve seen in a long time.
We all know Steven Spielberg can tell a great story and loves history, but you can really see an attention to detail for this moment in history that I can’t remember was ever shown in any other movies. The movie was just that fantastic. Lincoln really reminds people just how creative our leaders could be in difficult times, and I think this reminder is critically important in our current Culture War era.
Lincoln was such an understated and humble person, and yet he would wield whatever power the Presidency had in clever ways. He was soft-spoken, yet would choose his moments carefully to raise his voice whether it involved firing a general in the Civil War, or freeing the slaves. By his second term Lincoln became so determined to end slavery, that he truly made it so that the southern states re-entering the Union had no choice but to accept the legality of the 13th Amendment. It changed our country forever and Lincoln knew this would create a lot of controversy for possibly a generation or more, and it did, but he followed his convictions that all men are created equal. And short order, Lincoln tragically died for those convictions. And this is covered really well in the movie.
I found the portrayal by Daniel Day-Lewis to capture Lincoln perfectly, and as a fan of There Will Be Blood and Gangs of New York I’m honestly not that surprised to see just how good he was here. What was amazing to me was just how he physically become Lincoln. Day-Lewis is obviously going to be nominated for Best Actor in every award that matters, and he will probably win. You’d have to see it to know what I’m talking about. The rest of the all-star cast are just amazing, as well.
If you want to see a great movie that has a lot to say about America from the past and now, go see Lincoln.
Originally published at julianwest.me on November 22, 2012.