The New Classics: Lincoln
Tuesday, August 18, 2020 at 2:00PM
Abraham Lincoln's abilities as a writer probably would have earned him a place in history even without his accomplishments as a statesman. He is surely the best writer that has ever occupied the Oval Office. Capable of expressing complex ideas with remarkable economy, he had a deft hand with allusions and was responsible for many evocative turns of phrase that resonate far outside the political context of their time, “The better angels of our nature” or “The dogmas of the quiet past.” Hell, simply opting for “Four score and seven” over “eighty-seven” reveals a writer’s ear for the musical potential of language.
It's a fitting tribute then, that the most prominent film about the sixteenth president, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, with a screenplay by Pulitzer prize winning playwright Tony Kushner, exudes that same love of language. There’s scarcely a scene without some memorable linguistic spin. There's much to admire in Spielberg’s film from the beautifully worn production design to the momentous performances, but the real reason I’ve returned to it repeatedly since 2012 is simply because the characters are such fun to listen to. All of the film’s dramatic peaks involve the spectacle of verbal fireworks, particularly my favorite scene, where Tommy Lee Jones blasts his way out of a political trap firing off ornately worded insults like cannonballs...
Scene: Equal Before The Law
As the crucial vote on the amendment to end slavery nears, Thaddeus Stevens’ opponents try to hoist the great abolitionist by his unwavering moral rectitude. The idea is to goad him into affirming his belief in racial equality in front of the assembled press in the hopes that what was seen as his radicalism would derail ratification. Stevens comes right up to the brink of playing into their hands, but finds a clever last-second escape hatch, when he denies equality, not because of the inferiority of one race, but because the anti-abolitionists before him are so loathsome. It’s at this point that Kushner’s words are too good not to quote in full:
How can I hold that all men are created equal when here before me stands, stinking, the moral carcass of the gentleman from Ohio? Proof that some men are inferior, endowed by their maker with dim wits, impermeable to reason, with cold, pallid slime in their veins instead of hot, red blood. You are more reptile than man, George, so low and flat that the foot of man is incapable of crushing you!
The foot of man!
A lesser movie would use Stevens merely as an obstacle for the president, but in this scene Kushner and Spielberg effectively raise Thaddeus Stevens to his rightful historical stature alongside Lincoln. The screenplay presents the Lincoln/Stevens relationship as a balanced equation. Neither could have succeeded without the other. Just as Stevens’ hero moment is his “equal before the law” compromise, Daniel Day-Lewis's Lincoln gets a matching scene when “the compromising capitulator”, as the abolitionists scorn him, digs in his heels and refuses to compromise one more inch, venting his majestic frustration in his thunderous “Now! Now! Now!” monologue.
To complicate things further, although the film argues unequivocally for the rightness of Stevens’ strategic compromise, it is careful to note the pain this retreat inflicts – both on Stevens’ fellow abolitionists and, most pointedly, the African Americans in attendance. Words matter.
One of my favorite of the film's touches is the rowdiness of the Congressmen themselves. The events of Lincoln are less than a decade removed from the incident where an abolitionist speech resulted in one congressman beating another half-to-death with a cane, and it feels like it. The shameless hamminess of their period specific oratorical techniques are endlessly amusing. Their theatricality is pitched at a level that would be at home in a production of Oedipus, with Lee Pace’s dramatic hand gestures a particular joy. Peter McRobbbie’s epically drawn out “How dare yooouuuu!” in response to Jones’ onslaught is priceless.
What’s quietly amazing about this scene - aside from the fact Tommy Lee Jones’ rollicking performance is outright stealing the film from the greatest actor alive - is that it’s celebrating a politician for using slippery wordplay to avoid taking a stand, exactly the kind of behavior you would expect to see excoriated in a Portrait of a Great Man movie. In the expected version of this story, Lincoln speaks and the power of his moral argument parts the political waters. Spielberg's version of history asks if maybe the heroes are not the leaders who rise above such tactics, but are instead the ones who use these base methods for a greater good? Do we judge our leaders by their righteousness or by their accomplishments? Much thornier questions than we might have anticipated from Lincoln based on it's safe prestige packaging.
Follow Michael on Twitter and Letterboxd. More episodes of The New Classics.
Reader Comments (23)
Lincoln is great, mainly for Sally Field in a performance closely followed by Helen Hunt that year, THEN Anne Hathaway (Still great, mostly fantastic lineup). But Sharon Stone gave a great speech for Brut's facebook page that is important to include in the next Link roundup. Not only does she show she has had the right amount of facial tweak to still look convincingly human and stunning but age appropriate, but she does what actors seem to find difficult. She gives an honest and touching real life account of a heartbreaking situation. Even some of my faves have affectactions or the veneer or it when doing similar, but Sharon is as convincing as herself as she is in the roles offered and not offered to her. Cast her you cowards!
Sally should have won the Oscar.
Another terrific piece, Michael. This is how you do a biopic right. It REALLY engages with the material rather than just spinning through a greatest hits of what happened. I'm still pissed that Tommy Lee Jones lost the Oscar when this performance is easily better than the one that hee won for and the won that won in 2012. argh.
Kushner's screenplay to this is so fantastic. I only wish I had reesponded as well to his Spielberg era work when it was Munich.
The frustration I felt at the time when most of awards focus centred on awarding Day-Lewis and no one else really from the project was quite intense. I've obviously grown to accept that we are no longer in an age of 5+ winning best pictures but really Spielberg who so regularly makes explosive films less about character than spectacle makes this he should've be rewarded.
Kushner not winning screenplay i think is the loss which hurts most because taking Goodwin's great historical novel and adapting it into a captivating drama wasn't an easy task. Terrio has been so disappointing as a writer since makes the loss harder considering Kushner is one of the great writers on the millennium. Field and Jones were easily the best of their fields and should've joined Streetcar and Network as films to win 3 acting prizes.
I also love revisiting this film and being in awe of the amount of actors in it's expanded ensemble who since have gone to do era defining work. I really do love this film because it acts as both a great historical piece and entertaining feature also.
2012 was my favorite year of the last decade and Lincoln was the best of the best. It's just one of those films that felt as if it had been made especially for me. I love history, and this really made me feel as if I was experiencing those events first-hand, with nothing dumbed down. This also marked my final break with taking Oscars at all seriously. It was already on thin ice after the Brokeback Mountain debacle. But choosing Argo over Lincoln was the last straw.
My Top 10 of 2012:
1. Lincoln
2. Amour
3. The Kid with a Bike
4. The Turin Horse
5. Starlet
6. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
7. Killer Joe
8. Rust and Bone
9. Miss Bala
10. Brave
Runners Up: Pirates! Band of Misfits, Monsieur Lazhar, Barbara, Arbitrage, Flight
Excellent film, very good script, superb casting (all the more impressive given how large the cast is). And yeah, I join the others in favoring Sally Field that year over the other nominees.
One of the not so many films by Spielberg that I actually love. I have to acknowledge Spielberg as one of the best artisans in film history, but I do not consider him a good author... the moment he has artistic ambition... the film might tumble after his clumsyness... "The Color Purple" being probably, along with "Lincoln", the only exceptions... but "Amistad", "Saving Private Ryan" are terrible, terrible films, and "Schindler's List", while formally awesome on most of its lenght, it trembles at the ending, at the last 20 minutes... "ET is also overrated to the extreme. Yes, it is a masterpiece of Hollywood filmmaking, however it really can't hold a candle to other 1982 masterpieces like "John Carpenter's The Thing", "Blade Runner" or "Missing". I'd dare to say that when dust settles, both "Tron" and "Poltergeist" are better films than Spielberg's. Also, the more I think about "Jurassic Park", it may be conceptually better designed than Schindler's List, which always go for the obvious, more classical decissions, while the dinosaur metaphore about parenthood with God (Hammond) and Satan (Malcom) playing around Dr. Grant's fears and desires, reaches more and more depth with repeated viewings, beyond the entertainment surface...
Spielberg is great, for sure: "The Color Purple", "Duel", "Jaws", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Lincoln", "Jurassic Park", "Minority Report"... but when he's terrible, he can really be terrible... "Hook", "Saving Private Ryan", "Amistad", "The Terminal"...
I love that Spielberg couldn’t resist a touch of his old self in this scene and lets Williams’s gorgeous music crescendo as TLJ finishes his speech and walks out of the room.
Classic Spielberg, and it still gives me chills, as it serves so wonderfully to show what makes him one of the greatest directors to ever gift us with quality cinema and beyond.
Everyone was at the top of their game in this.
I turned this off quarter way in. I should have finished it but I just can’t get with Spielberg. It all seemed like such Oscar bait and Daniel Day Lewis was way too hammy, as per usual.
One of the best movies directed by one of the greatest directors , flawless performances all acroos the board, I never liekd Sally Field but she's great, Day-Lewis rightfully won and Jones Deserved to win.
For me it's not the best movie of 2012, but it's very close, my top 10:
1Amour.
2.Lincoln
3.Holy motors
4.Zero dark thirty
5.Pieta
6.The master
7.Beast of the Southern wild
8.Dans la maison
9.It's such a beautiful day
10.Stories we telle
Argo is my number 13
Lots of agree here from me, and I will also throw in support for Spielberg rightfully winning the Directing Oscar this year for making a fully-formed auteur movie (as opposed to Ang Lee just stringing together a series of great special effects).
Supporting categories that year were very unimpressive as a whole.
Agreed with the above. This film should’ve have won for Field, Jones, and Kushner in addition to Day-Lewis.
"Spielberg's version of history asks if maybe the heroes are not the leaders who rise above such tactics, but are instead the ones who use these base methods for a greater good?"
What a brilliant insight, and worth remembering in an era when people think political maneuvering and engaging in politics as the "art of the possible" is a de facto ignoble practice.
You've done what great critics do, Michael: You've made me want to reassess a film I only liked--didn't love when I saw it a single time upon first release. When I saw it listed as a "new Classic" here I thought, "nah." Now I"m thinking: "Damn. I need to watch this again very soon."
Great write up! I love this film. Such a fascinating look at politics at work. A rare case where they really don't make them like this anymore, and even with all those magnificent star turns, Kushner's amazing screenplay shines brightest. A shame that the praise was too narrowly focused on awarding Day Lewis. An even bigger shame that this got lost in the midst of a "Ben Affleck Apology Tour". Argo basically being unchallenged that season will never not be a bit mind boggling.
Nathaniel – I often think of how much I would enjoy more traditional biopics if they adapted this model and tightened their focus. I think I might have liked Aviator a lot more, for example, if it was just about the last portion, with Hughes trying to collect himself for his stand off with Alan Alda.
Manny – If I had one quibble with the scene its that they lay the score on a bit heavy, when restraint would’ve served the scene better. But what are you gonna do? Spielberg’s gonna Spielberg. It’s certainly not as severe as the same issue was in Amistad, which all but suffocates its drama with strings.
John – If you turn off everything that looks like Oscar bait you’re gonna miss some great stuff. Hell, even the things that ARE Oscar bait often have some fascinating elements to them. Don’t throw the baby out with the shallow, boring bathwater, ya know.
Dan – Your comment made my day.
I’ll also echo everyone and agree Lincoln should’ve done a lot better at the Oscars that year. Going just by the nominees and not the year as a whole, I’d have awarded it 7 trophies:
Picture
Director
Supporting Actor
Supporting Actress
Adapted Screenplay
Production Design
Editing
Oddly enough, Lead Actor is one of the trophies I’d have denied Lincoln opting for Phoenix in The Master instead. Screenplay should’ve been a gimme. I was going to toss on Make Up too, only to find that it was omitted, which is baffling. Lincoln is surely one of the great facial hair films of all time. I mean the mutton chops alone…
Nathaniel – I often think of how much I would enjoy more traditional biopics if they adapted this model and tightened their focus. I think I might have liked Aviator a lot more, for example, if it was just about the last portion, with Hughes trying to collect himself to stand off with Alan Alda’s senator.
Manny – If I had one quibble with the scene its that they lay the score on a bit heavy, when restraint would’ve served the scene better. But what are you gonna do? Spielberg’s gonna Spielberg. It’s certainly not as severe as the same issue was in Amistad, which suffocates its drama with strings.
John – I you turn off everything that looks like Oscar bait you’re gonna miss some great stuff. Hell, even the things that ARE Oscar bait often have some fascinating elements to them. Don’t throw the baby out with the shallow, boring bathwater, ya know.
Dan – Your comment made my day.
I’ll also echo everyone and agree Lincoln should’ve done a lot better than year. Going just by the nominees and not the year as a whole, I’d have awarded it 7 oscars:
Picture
Director
Supporting Actor
Supporting Actress
Adapted Screenplay
Production Design
Editing
Oddly enough, Lead Actor is one of the trophies I’d have denied Lincoln opting for Phoenix in The Master instead. Screenplay should’ve been a gimme. I was going to toss on Make Up too, only to find that it was omitted, which is baffling. Lincoln is surely one of the great facial hair films of all time. I mean the mutton chops alone…
Joaquin should have won that year over this.
This is a very persuasive writeup, as always, that makes me (like Dan H) want to revisit and reevaluate the film. I feel like Spielberg - sometimes, but not always - gets a little too solemn and even ponderous in tone when he's tackling "serious," historical subjects, in a way that he doesn't with his action-adventures. I thought that about LINCOLN, terrific as the acting was. I especially remember thinking, as with SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, that the opening scene was too what I'd call..."reverential Spielberg," which set me off on the wrong foot. But you make a great case that it's actually a lot more fluid and dynamic than I may have given it credit for at the time.
FIELD4EVA
I honestly thought that quote you pulled was from Thaddeus Stevens himself, that's how good Kushner did.
Lynn - Thanks. I always enjoy your input.
I know what you mean about how Spielberg can lapse into ponderous territory when he tackles important subjects. I feel like Kushner rescues from that this time out. It reminds me of how the Fincher/Sorkin collaboration brought out the best in each other and tempered some of their bad habits.
That opening scene you mention is a great example. It verges on the bad Spielberg –the one black soldier quoting the Gettysburg Address from memory feels like it should be too much - but there’s too much interesting friction in the writing to let it drown in syrup. Like the way Oyelowo’s soldier keep pushing on Lincoln to talk substance, while Lincoln doesn’t really have the energy for it and would much rather do a little amiable politicking and leave it there. The fact that it’s Oyelowo’s soldier who quotes Lincoln’s words back to him puts an edge on it. It’s less “God bless you, Mr. President, you wise and wonderful man” and more “Respectfully, I am going to hold you to your soaring oratory, sir.”
This really should have won more Oscars. 3 acting wins would have been totally worthy. All supporting actors were former winners, so Waltz over Jones? Seriously? Hathaway won the Oscar the moment she was cast as Fantine, and then doubly so once the trailer to "I Dreamed a Dream" was released. In my mind, if DDL could win a third Oscar, Sally Field should have too. I was expecting the usual, "Daniel Day-Lewis is so overrated" complaints, so it's nice to see the lovefest for him instead. Such a deserved Oscar win! Kushner losing was terrible. Terrio went on to pen "Rise of Skywalker," "Justice League," and "Batman v. Superman," so way to sell out, dude! I could accept Spielberg losing to Lee. I was in Walmart fishing through the DVD value bin recently, and I saw a copy of "Argo" for $3 and smirked lol. That's where it belongs! Give that crap away. So many classics robbed for BP that year.