Wednesday 20 February 2013

Devouring Films: Lincoln


I accidentally went to see Lincoln last week, a happy little mistake that was caused by the internet LYING to me about movie times for Les Mis, my mum being gracious and agreeing to go and see this instead, and my eternal love for Daniel Day-Lewis. (Don't worry- we saw Les Mis at the weekend, and I will never trust the internet again. Lessons learned all round.)

But Lincoln. WOAH. I'm not going to say that I just completely and utterly loved the film, or there weren't times when I wanted to sleep a tiiiiny bit (I had been to work beforehand, to be fair) but I was uncomplicatedly blown away by Daniel Day-Lewis, or maybe I should say Daniel Day-LINCOLN. Because I mean, seriously, there's acting and then there's just downright POSESSION, and well, I think DDL was definitely channeling old Abe in this movie. SERIOUSLY FREAKY (and, you know, awesome.)

I kind of envisaged Lincoln as a biopic in a traditional sense- they'd get someone to play young Abe, there'd be some heartbreak in his formative years before he finally found a good woman and she helped him become President, and THEN he'd free the slaves, but actually Lincoln turned out to be a lot more interesting than that. What it's more like is a really long episode of The West Wing set in the 19th Century (so not TONS like The West Wing), covering the time juuuust before Lincoln's second inauguration up to SPOILER (lol) his assassination, i.e. a period of about 4 months, ALSO i.e. the time he got the Thirteenth Amendment passed and freed the slaves and all. If you're an American you're probably like 'yep, learnt allllll about that at school', but we have abouuut a thousand years of Monarchy to cover, so WE DID NOT. And so I was way interested, and I was learning stuff.

Like, I learned that Lincoln's eldest son (played admirably by a chronically underused JGL with a tash) didn't massively love his dad, and totally defied him to run off and join the army. And I re-learned that it takes a lot more than just a President to get a bill passed in Congress. And that the Republicans and Democrats used to have the opposite roles to the ones they have now, and HEY how did that happen? I also importantly remembered how much I love Tommy Lee Jones as an actor, suddenly realised that the sponsor of the 13th Amendment was Gale Boetticher from Breaking Bad AND that Spielberg really is a kind of awesome director, which I guess is something I've been denying forever because his films are, you know, popular?

Anyway. Lincoln maybe isn't a perfect film, but its opening is wonderful, its middle bits are great, and the part in Congress where the Congressmen were voting on the Thirteenth Amendment made me want to jump to my feet and applaud every 'yea' vote. And also to cry juuuust a teeny bit. Other than the rousing bits in the house, my favourite parts were probably those where Abe and his wife, Mary (played by Sally Field, a casting decision which confused me because she's like, what, 65 and she's supposed to have a 10 year old kid? BUT she was actually awesome, as she tends to be) have conversations in her bedroom, she still cut up with grief over the death of their son a couple of years before, he frustrated with her and her grief... I realise I'm not making these conversations sound like the best, but it shows a side to Lincoln so different to his public persona that it's really interesting, and sometimes heartbreaking to watch.

My other other favourite bits are Lincoln's monologues. I can but assume that he actually did, in hugely important meetings, take whatever they were talking about, find an anecdote that loosely related to it and tell it, before finally, FINALLY bringing it round to the point, again. At least, I hope he did because it is AMUSING and also kind of brilliant, and really really really reminded me of The West Wing (I'm assuming that Aaron Sorkin put a little bit of Lincoln, and maybe all the Presidents he admired into President Bartlet, because he does that anecdote thing A LOT.) One of Lincoln's senior staff gets so annoyed by this that he storms off ("You're going to tell one of your stories! I can't stand to hear another one of your stories!") rather than listen to another anecdote, but... Imagine getting to listen to one of President Lincoln's stories! And because DDL has somehow morphed into Lincoln, well, you kind of get to.

So this was ridiculously long, and garbled, and if you stayed for the whole thing then THANK YOU, and have a cookie (cookies not included). Basically, the point is this: Abraham Lincoln was a pretty super dude, and even though I was expecting a biopic, I'm not sure observing him over a longer time period would do him any more justice than watching him in his last months, and finest hours. In film terns, it's kind of unfair to all other actors that Daniel Day-Lewis exists, because he is the actual amazingest and should win ALL THE OSCARS (apart from Best Supporting Actress, for that must go to Anne Hathaway). And, yeah, you should probably go and see Lincoln. ESPECIALLY if you're not American, because hello History lesson taught by DDL. If only all teachers were you...

21 comments:

  1. Well, now I want to go see it. Also, is it really bad that on that poster I was like "OMG! DDL LOOKS JUST LIKE THE STATUE OF ABE LINCOLN THAT COMES ALIVE IN NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2!" Which he would really, wouldn't he. Nice way to show off your inner Philistine, Ellie. :(

    Also, I agree that DDL would not make a good Best Supporting Actress. Even HE'S not that good, y'know?

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    1. Hehehehehe, ohhhhhh Ellie! To be fair though, as Englishers, we have less images of Lincoln to work off- like, he's not on our money or anything! So, yeah, I *guess* relating him to Night at the Museum 2 is fine (but I would have preferred Legally Blonde 2, when Elle goes and visits his statue.)

      Oh no, DDL, is totally good enough to be Best Supporting Actress! I just need Anne Hathaway to win that because I kind of need to cry even now thinking about Fantine *sniiiiiiiiff*

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  2. I was sooo on board with the acting in this movie -- DDL, Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, JGL...all stupendous!

    I was less on board with the very Spielberg-y music swelling, sunset-ish shots. I wish he could hold back sometimes and just focus on the people. It would make, I think, for a much better movie.

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    1. Seriously amazing acting!! I know what you mean about Spielberg's directing, and I think there were times when he could have done... Something different with the directing, cause like when Mary and Abe were having that conversation about their dead son, I was like 'I totally want to cry, but... It's not really doing it for me.' So there's that. BUT I think for like the action shots, ESPECIALLY during the vote in Congress, his directing was PERFECT.

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  3. "What it's more like is a really long episode of The West Wing set in the 19th Century" OK, so I do want to see this, but I've put it off cos American history meeeeh. But this description actually made me sit up and go "oh hey now". Even though you then go "but not actually like the West Wing" but whatever.

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    1. HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE AMERICAN HISTORY IT IS SO INTERESTING AND ALSO BRUTAL! And short, so like, you can pretty much learn all of it in a shortish time!

      It's kiiind of like The West Wing, but it's not because it's the 19th Century and apparently in those days random people would just go to The White House and be like 'Um, Mr President dude, can you sort this thing out' and he'd be like 'Yeah!' But it's still West Wing-esque. More political than historical? I don't even know what I'm saying anymore, but WATCH IT WOMAN!

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    2. Maybe it comes from years of focusing on American history in class but it is so blaaaaaaaaaaah. And depressing. Also cos we covered the same stuff all the time cos there is waaaay less US history than there is English. How far through history do you guys make it? Cos we never really made it past the Industrial Revolution and we have WAY less material to get through.

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    3. You never really made it past the industrial revolution? Because... I mean, what about the Civil War?! And the whole Civil Rights Movement? WE even did like the New Deal and the Wall Street Crash and all that...

      My first 3 years at Secondary school (11-14, if that helps) were kind of like a crash course in English history, 1066-I guess, the Victorians? Although I don't remember actually doing them. And then the last two years we did hardly any English History apart from the Suffragettes and stuff, but also we did Hitler and WWII, and then also we did the US from 1920s-1930s. And the Vietnam War and stuff. And THEN I did an A Level (17-18) in Tudor History and it was like back to England!

      Basically, what I'm saying is, we mix it up! And I have a vague understanding of the History of England, 1066-now. ish.

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    4. Well we made it to the end of the Second Industrial Revolution (typically) so 1920s. Mostly cos we spent SO MUCH TIME on the Civil War. So much time. I remember some vague classes about WWII but not much to them. And I remember one year of World History which meant "anything not US" but that was it.

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    5. Ohhhhh. So, like, the American industrial revolution as opposed to the one we had about 200 years earlier? Ok, gotcha! But yeah, we never ever learnt about the Civil War, and my entire education on it is basically Little Women VS Gone With The Wind. That's IT.

      LOL at your world history though. Is it true that your geography classes are all just about America, too? Because if so, you're fulfilling alllllll our stereotypes of you hehehe (By 'our' I mean, my dad's. Cause he's really mean.)

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    6. You know, I don't think our geography classes were just the US, but that is mostly because I can't really remember any geography classes. I think I maaay have had some in elementary school but after that, any geography was part of history. And THAT is why I have only the vaguest sense of where anything is.

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    7. Geography was a part of history. Well. No comment.

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  4. Conicidentally, I went to see this film last night! I really liked it too but sometimes I thought all of Lincoln's anecdotes/stories really slowed the pace down. And it all seemed a bit fairy-tale-ish. But that's OK, because it's a movie :)

    And the acting was AWESOME!

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    1. I think... Yeah, they definitely slowed the pace down at times, and seemed out of place in the situations sometimes, but I feel like... THAT IS LITERALLY WHAT HE DID! It seems like he would have, bless him haha.

      DDL FTW!! And, y'know, everyone else too!

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  5. Did you also know that Robert Todd was a DICK? 'Cause he was.

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    1. I did not know that, but how can he be, because JGL!! But anyway, tell me more!

      Lincoln totally said to Mary 'Not too much on the flubdubs' in the film, and I was like ALIIIIIIIIICE!! It was an exciting moment.

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  6. DDL blows my freaking mind. He's the only actor working today (that I can think of right at this second) who completely disappears into his characters. Even with other excellent guys, you're always like, "Heath Ledger is playing the Joker really well." But with DDL it's like "HOLY BALLS, IT'S LINCOLN!" Gangs of NY and There Will Be Blood? I forget it's him in those movies. I love that guy. I have not seen this yet! It's not playing anywhere in my town any more. Curse you, medium-to-small-sized Canadian city.

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    1. I've never seen Gangs of New York, which is laaaame. But *whispers* I didn't really like There Will Be Blood! As in, I got bored. But, definitely, I was like 'but, where's DDL?!' Have you seen My Beautiful Laundrette? He's all young and GORGEOUS in it, and maybe not such a good actor BUT he still blows ALL of the other actors in it out of the water.

      The only other actor I can think of who does this is Johnny Depp (mooost of the time). Because I can totally remember going to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and just going 'this is the same guy who is Captain Jack Sparrow... DOES NOT COMPUTE.' Plus EVERY character he's ever played is way different to his actual self, who, from watching many interviews, I can only conclude is a total spaz. In a way that makes me LOVE HIM.

      Erm... What were we talking about?

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  7. Laura! This post is perfect. Exactly the same thoughts I had. Daniel Day Lewis is incredible! I just wanted to squeeze him because he was so awkward and soft-spoken, yet so incredibly intelligent! Sally Fields is also pretty amazing and really brought their dynamic to life. Poor guy! Just kidding but then seriously. High maintenance. Glad you liked it!

    P.S. Have you seen the shots of that basketball player that made the comment that many of the guys on the team didn't know he was shot. HELLO!?!? It's freaking ABRAHAM LINCOLN. And these bball players were AMERICAN. Anyway. Maybe it wasn't actually real. (But some part of me thinks it was.)

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    1. And I also realize that I maybe suggested that this was perfect because it was the same things I was thinking but I am definitely not so NARCISSISTIC. Or I'll say I'm not here. I just meant it was well written. Ok, I'll stop while I'm ahead.

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    2. No, no, if your thoughts are the same as mine, then you're definitely right that they're perfect (NARCISSIST FOREVS!). Also, thanks for using the word perfect in relation to anything to do with me! :D

      Anyway! DDL is, well, he just IS Lincoln. Which is perfect. And Sally Field was awesome (I had a tiny bit of trouble with her only because I've seen basically every episode of Brothers and Sisters, so she IS Nora now. But she was still pretty great). But awww, high maintenance? You meeeean! One of my favourite scenes was that bit towards the end where she's like 'they're going to remember you as the amazing President, and I'm going to be the crazy woman holding him back' or whatever and I was like awwwwwww :( And also THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE A WOMAN WITH THOUGHTS AND STUFF.

      P.S. I did not see that! BUT I went to see Lincoln with my mum, and she was like 'I didn't realise he was shot!' and I was like 'WOMAN ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!' She was not, sadly. So, I mean, it's totally possible for people not to know that. Apparently.

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