Lincoln (2012) - A Great Actor In A Great Character.

★★★★★

Shame that I don’t know much about Abraham Lincoln. All I’ve learned about him is, he was born into a very poor family and self taught himself into a lawyer. He failed many times before he was elected the President of United States, twice. He was so determined to end slavery and the civil war, and he finally did with his political wisdom. He’s considered the greatest President ever in American history. I can’t disagree!

Steven Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’, a serious dialogue-driven historical drama, concentrates on Lincoln’s last few months of life, telling how he manages to achieve passage of an Amendment that would end slavery once and for all, and bring peace to the States; how he’s able to get his foes and friends together to back up his moves and attain his goals. He was indeed a very smart politician, but he wasn’t doing it for his own benefits. He was doing it as an example for the entire world that freedom, equality, and peace are never easy, but it’s certainly worth fighting for. He did live up to what he advocated in his speeches to his people. And that’s what makes him the greatest!

When I first saw the official picture of Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln, I was like, what a great actor in a great character. This film was going to be awesome. It is, particularly in light of Daniel’s incomparably amazing performance that’s just rewarded him the Best Actor Oscar again, his record-breaking third in his leading actor career. Truth is, he seldom engages himself in commercial Hollywood stuff, but every time he does, he blows our mind by showing how he can completely disappear into the character, like his roles in ‘My Left Foot’ and ‘There Will Be Blood’. No wonder he’s the best example of method acting. His Lincoln seems so convincing and charismatic. Some may not feel so comfortable with his high-pitched voice in the film, but it’s in fact historically correct. If Daniel turned down the role like he almost did back then, I guess ‘Lincoln’ would be just an average!

There’re famous quotes by Lincoln himself. One of them that inspires me much is like, ‘I’m a slow walker, but I never walk backwards.’ Yeah, it sounds old-school, but think about it. How many of us can actually keep moving forward while encountering setbacks and hardship constantly? Frustrations are so inevitable. The problem is not the problem itself but your attitude to the problem. How many of us can really be like Lincoln, who, though troubled by personal hardship and political challenges, could still hold on to his faith, face up to it, take it usually with a humorous attitude and go on? We’re indeed all born equal. What determines our destiny is our attitude to life itself. We may never be so exactly great like Lincoln, but we can learn to be as faithful and honest as him for sure.

I wonder why peacemakers like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, John Lennon, John F Kennedy, etc, are all likely to be shot dead by some crazy bastards. Maybe we’re all like such bastards more or less. Maybe we’re not ready for things like peace, equality, and freedom just yet.