Lincoln, the Film
Words. If you are looking for a lot of action – this is not the film for you. However, if you are looking for an understanding of arguably one of the most complicated leaders in history – you will find hints of it from Spielberg and Goodwin. But you have to listen closely, for it is found foremost in “words.” Words that at times are not easily discernible due to cadence and dialect of the period.
Oh, there are truths to be known in deeds – for instance the lobbying tactics of the Republicans (which were nowhere near the “white as driven snow,” variety). Or, the truth that can be seen on a face or in the body language of a torn, troubled, and tortured Lincoln. Torn over his role as leader of the Union, troubled by the lawless nature of his own disregard for the Constitution, and tortured over the souls that paid the price for both the rightness and wrongness of the former.
The “tellers” of this narrative deserve the highest congratulations for sticking with the painful and God awful decisions Lincoln faced once he went down the road of perdition. Obfuscating and purposely abandoning the authority of the Constitution Continue reading