Lincoln
The film, “Lincoln” is a about Abraham Lincoln’s conflict to abolish slavery near the end of the Civil War. The creative artists in the film were Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens.
Social themes present in the movie were equality, divine right, and progression. First of all, equality was a social theme in the movie. The politicians in the movie argued that the constitution guaranteed rights to all American citizens. The slaves were being treated harshly and as third class citizens, thus creating a conflict that antagonizes equality believers. Second, divine right was another social theme. A Supreme Court judge argued that God did not create slaves equally. Through his eyes the white man was born superior to the black man, so the black man had to be herded by the ones who were created by God to be better. Third, progression was an argument. The Republicans and Lincoln believed that slavery would always be an issue. They wanted the nations to follow the values it set. Maintaining slavery would prevent more citizens from coming up with ideas, and prevent America from reaching it’s original goal of becoming a utopia.
The psychological themes present in the movie are different people, pressure, and enlightenment. For one, “different people”, is an influential psychological theme in the movie. Most of the Democrats know that because blacks are different and not as powerful, so they must remain slaves. It is encoded into their DNA that they are stronger and more powerful, so they must lead the weaker people. Also, pressure is another theme present in the piece. Lincoln was under great amounts of pressure because the war was still going, and he had family strife. His decision to abolish slavery made it harder to make peace with the South. The Southerners drew a lot of energy from slaves, and getting rid of them would destroy their way of life. Also, Lincoln was under pressure from his wife. She viewed his popularity as a blessing, and didn’t want him to throw it away trying to accomplish a near impossible goal. All of this put a strain on him and dealt great blows to his morale as he tried to accomplish his goals. Overall, the movie was excellent, Daniel Day-Lewis is an exact replica of Abraham Lincoln, the background provides a wonderful political story, and the social and psychological themes got the viewer to think what would they do in that situation.
The genre of this film is Psychological Realism. The movie portrays Abraham Lincoln as the main character and his quest to break down social barriers and present new psychological ways of thinking, makes the view ask a lot of questions about “what’s right?”, “what’s wrong?”, and “what is best”? These consistent questions throughout the movie make the film an excellent example of psychological realism that will have the viewer questioning themselves the entire movie. Their primary elements of drama in the move is Character, Thought, and Diction. These three elements are portrayed in many characters in the movie as they try to have political battles amongst each other. The Characters are excellently played and believable, so the viewer truly feels that the Democrats are traditionalist trying to keep things the way they are. The characters create great questions, as their firm belief and reason for wanting things to stay the way they are, or change makes the viewer think about their allegiances. And the diction supports the two, more primary elements by making the characters more believable and swaying the viewer to one side or the other.
The Secondary elements help create an excellent background for the piece. The story being based near the end of the Civil war provided an intense political atmosphere. The Spectacle of the war swayed the viewer’s so they knew the death of all the soldiers had meaning to how the shape of America would be. And the Music and Sound, played prideful American tones as during major decisions of the politicians, or the death of the soldiers, so the audience knew both sides were fighting for a better America.
The character Abraham Lincoln was excellently portrayed throughout the movie as a determined, fair, and stressed character. He was determined to abolish slavery. To him slavery was inhumane and against the principles that were established upon Americas creation. In the scene where he argues with his men at the table he quotes, “..WITH THE FATE OF HUMAN DIGNITY IN OUR HANDS, BLOOD HAS BEEN SPILLED TO AFFORD US THIS MOMENT-NOW-NOW-NOW!!!!’, he doesn’t accept the recessive attitude and wants his employees to take advantage of everything the soldiers have died for, and the Americans had sought, to change the future of America. Abraham was also portrayed as a fair individual. He quotes, “This settles the fate for all coming time, not only for the millions now in bondage, but of unborn millions to come…”, Abraham firmly believes that America should support freedom and freeing slaves would create more citizens with ideas, and they would help the country prosper. Lastly Abraham was a stressed character. He received pressure from his wife for risking his golden image to try a near impossible goal, and his son wanted to join the army. His wife firmly believed that Abraham was doing too much, and that trying to free the slaves was unnecessary, and his son was absolutely determined to join the army. This dealt great blows the Lincolns morale and it showed that Lincoln took sufficient blows to his fatigue. In total, Abraham Lincoln was portrayed stupendously by Daniel Day-Lewis as a great political warrior who is determined to accomplish his goals.
Mary Todd Lincoln was a great character. Sally Field displayed her as a statistical, dutiful, and supportive wife. At first, she tried to persuade Abraham from abolishing slavery. From her point of view he was a great and powerful man, and trying to free the slaves would destroy his reputation. She didn’t want him to take unnecessary risk for unrealistic goals. Second, she was dutiful. She consistently showed up to his presidential meetings and didn’t try to destroy his reputation despite her disagreeing with him. Lastly, she was supportive. Even though she thought trying to free slaves was a waste of effort, she still played the role of supportive wife. During debates despite persuading Democrats points, she displayed the image of a supportive wife, and was disappointed when the pro-slave politicians started to move the crowd from Lincoln’s goals. This proves that despite her beliefs she would not take the side of the public, instead she would support her husband.
The major dramatic question in the film is, “what does this mean”? The film constantly shows politicians determined to save America by bringing up examples of the use, or misuse of slaves. At first, the Southerners are portrayed as antagonist, but as the viewer hears they’re case, they start to understand Southerners. Slaves are a major part of the Southern states economy and getting rid of them would hinder the south immensely. The viewer asks the question, “what does this mean?” once they see more of the story because they don’t know who the antagonist is now.
The major dramatic conflict of the piece was psychological. Lincoln had to convince Democrats to support abolishing slavery. This was a difficult task because most citizens had gotten used to the idea of having slaves, and developed good reasons for keeping slaves. Lincoln’s goal was to show people that slavery was an inhumane use of a man, and that America was built upon the idea of freedom, and that abolishing slavery would create more citizens with inventions and support Americas original goal of being a utopia.
The soundtrack in the movie supported American patriotism. The track played patriotic American themes during the antagonist speeches and during the protagonist speeches. This showed that everyone in the film wasn’t trying to win a fight, but do what was best for the future of America.
The cinematography was excellently used to show the Spectacle of the battlefield. The camera showed a wide shot so the viewer would see the horrors of war, and the effect it has on the background. The camera would then zoom in to medium shots or close ups of soldiers, to show how hard they were fighting for what they believed was the best future for their nation.
The cinematography was used to show the importance of monumental places. The camera would show high angles shots and pan around important places such as The Supreme Court, and important figures. This use of panning and camera angels shows the magnitude and significance of colossal buildings, or individuals that shaped America during that time period.
Language in this movie was excellently portrayed by the characters. The southerners had accents that closely resemble those of people living in Southern America. Also the sophisticated semi-English tone was used to show how smart politicians would talk with their pride in their knowledge and firm belief in their political beliefs.
Time was manipulated with fading shoots. After the amendment passes the screen fades to black then shows Lincoln in his cabinet talking about going with his wife to the Ford’s Theatre. This fading of black shows that the scene had ended and that time had passed.
The film was semi-Photo Realistic. The props used in the movie were accurate clothes worn by citizen back in the 1800’s. The creative artist also adapted an old 1800’s accent to add to their characters to portray them as accurately as possible. The only hints of realism was the transition of time. There would be cuts in the film and the setting would change from one place to the next, thus making it obvious to the viewer that it was movie.
Overall, the film accomplished the Dual Purpose of Art. It stimulates emotion by having the viewer’s tense up near the voting session at the end of the movie. The viewer felt everyone’s pain and mission because of the creative artist excellent portrayal of Americans doing their best to make a better future for their country. The film also stimulated thought by having valid points on both sides of the debates as viewers questioned what would be best for America. The film, “Lincoln”, was a great portrayal of Abraham Lincoln’s quest to battle his political adversaries, and make America a ‘true’, and ideal country for freedom.