The main purpose of a film about our sixteenth President Abraham Lincoln is to paint him in a light that shows him in either of two ways: the savior of the Union or the ‘Great Emancipator.’ Lincoln is regarded as our greatest President, alongside George Washington; while much is known of Lincoln, people still crave to see the ‘true’ Lincoln, distilled in all his brevity and modesty. Lincoln in its twenty-first century special effects and bold-forced acting showed us with great pride the grandeur of the Lincoln fantasy, however did it represent the true events it depicted? The film was based in large part on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s biography of Lincoln and cabinet, titled “Team of Rivals” published in 2005. In part the book conveyed Lincoln’s
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In life there are certain men who are elevated to a stature that often-times when you learn more, you find a great deal of faults. When one reads of the life of Lincoln, you see the man you expected: one of extreme modesty and a brooding type of political genius, expressed in his powers of oratory and the workings of government, while remaining tender to the common man. The passage of the Thirteenth Amendment was notably rocked by disarray – the film did consolidate several politicians into singular members in the film, as the actual proceedings weren’t as volatile in actual events. While Congressman Fernando Wood of New York was a staunch Confederate supported, called ‘Copperheads’ by Unionists, he wasn’t quit as volatile as the film portrayed, nor as handsome, while he blocked the legislation when in came up for the vote in 1864. He seemed more focused in the history books as the New York City mayor that tried the secede from the Union and for his support of General George McClellan’s run for President in the 1864 election against …show more content…
While the set-up was sufficiently period, right down to the sound of Lincoln ticking pocket watch he used to play with when faced with immense decisions or confliction, Steven Spielberg actually went to the museum where the actual watch is held and recorded it ticking, to use in the film. This shows intense dedication to historical authenticity, much of the same method was used in recreating Lincoln’s office/war room. Right down to the arrangement of maps and the wallpaper, all of this brought a vibrant and period atmosphere, like actually witnessing the events as they were unfolding. The events depicted are somewhat parallel to the events depicted in recorded history; much of it is fluffed up and consolidated. While the ardor and the difficulty his expressed through the Lincoln’s pain of years of war and the mental instability of his wife Mary Todd are shown in strife. What’s missing conversely is the role of the abolitionists in the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment and the role of African Americans such as Frederick Douglass; while they didn’t play a direct role in the political aspect of the legislation, they influenced it greatly and I think the film could have benefited from
In life there are certain men who are elevated to a stature that often-times when you learn more, you find a great deal of faults. When one reads of the life of Lincoln, you see the man you expected: one of extreme modesty and a brooding type of political genius, expressed in his powers of oratory and the workings of government, while remaining tender to the common man. The passage of the Thirteenth Amendment was notably rocked by disarray – the film did consolidate several politicians into singular members in the film, as the actual proceedings weren’t as volatile in actual events. While Congressman Fernando Wood of New York was a staunch Confederate supported, called ‘Copperheads’ by Unionists, he wasn’t quit as volatile as the film portrayed, nor as handsome, while he blocked the legislation when in came up for the vote in 1864. He seemed more focused in the history books as the New York City mayor that tried the secede from the Union and for his support of General George McClellan’s run for President in the 1864 election against …show more content…
While the set-up was sufficiently period, right down to the sound of Lincoln ticking pocket watch he used to play with when faced with immense decisions or confliction, Steven Spielberg actually went to the museum where the actual watch is held and recorded it ticking, to use in the film. This shows intense dedication to historical authenticity, much of the same method was used in recreating Lincoln’s office/war room. Right down to the arrangement of maps and the wallpaper, all of this brought a vibrant and period atmosphere, like actually witnessing the events as they were unfolding. The events depicted are somewhat parallel to the events depicted in recorded history; much of it is fluffed up and consolidated. While the ardor and the difficulty his expressed through the Lincoln’s pain of years of war and the mental instability of his wife Mary Todd are shown in strife. What’s missing conversely is the role of the abolitionists in the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment and the role of African Americans such as Frederick Douglass; while they didn’t play a direct role in the political aspect of the legislation, they influenced it greatly and I think the film could have benefited from