I am not American, nor do I know much about American history and politics. I am aware of who Abraham Lincoln is but never studied about him, so I barely knew anything about one of the most loved American presidents in history. When “Lincoln” was released, I was very excited to hear his story.
The film takes place during Lincoln‘s second term as president whilst the American Civil War is still ongoing, and Abraham Lincoln is fighting within government to pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to abolish slavery.
Daniel Day-Lewis is an absolutely fantastic actor in this. Not once did I ever see anything other than Abraham Lincoln, and his portrayal was brilliant. I do believe that this performance was definitely well deserving of that Oscar award. I also found Tommy Lee Jones‘s portrayal of Thaddeus Stevens quite touching and inspiring.
There is a lot of dialogue in this film, in fact it is mostly dialogue and not much else, so if you have a short attention span, steer clear of this film. I understand this film isn’t for everyone, but if you do watch it, you’re in for a treat. With the amazing costumes, script, and music score, watching Lincoln was like an out of body experience – I felt like I was there every step of the way, right up until the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, a performance so great, I felt like I was there.
Historically, I think it’s amazing that the actions of Abraham Lincoln are still relevant today. So many lives have benefited because of him. If my country’s past was even nearly as inspiring and fascinating, I would definitely be more passionate about history and politics like the American people are about theirs.
Although I may not know much about American history, or be able to tell the differences between fact and fiction in this film, I do believe that “Lincoln” has definitely achieved what it was set out to do – to remind people that Abraham Lincoln was, is and always will be a great man.