Lincoln

Disclaimer: I haven't read much about Abraham Lincoln to have an informed opinion of him. This post is based solely on the movie "Lincoln" directed by Spielberg in 2012 and some Wikipedia reading while watching the movie.


Last night the mood was perfectly on to take some philosophy into my head. So I wanted to watch one of the missed out Oscar winning movies. Before this, I had already covered Silver Linings Playbook, Argo, Life of Pi, Les Miserables, Brave etc. I dunno why they got the Oscars truly, barring life of pi with exceptional visual effects, but I clearly know why Lincoln got its share, now. He was a true piece of art and brilliance!

The movie started with Lincoln conversing with a few soldiers participating in the civil war. He wanted to see the shore of the sea, the sea on which he has been trying hard to sail... the sea as a dream to pass the 13th Amendment bill and the shore leading to freedom and equality of human beings.

Lincoln was a perfect mix of a true believer of human equality and also someone who understands political gimmicks... he emotionally bribes lame ducks to get democratic votes. He envisioned a future without any discrimination and he also knew that he would need tremendous patience to attain his goal. He was a true leader who cracks a joke up to lighten up the most pressuring moments of the history. He always placed his conviction at the center and stood up for it when no one else really believed this would even happen.

In the movie, Lincoln had a way to present his point - with an anecdote. Most of the times, on a comical note. One particular quote on Euclid's theorem - "things equal to the same are equal to one another", was marvelously put across to attract whole idea of his struggle. The basic human equality that he wishes to attain in order to eradicate all the differences which caused the civil war in the first place.

An interesting character shown in the movie was Thaddeus Stevens. He was a radical Republican who wishes to bring out a change in the way Afro-Americans were treated. He wanted to disclose racial equality openly which Lincoln thinks otherwise as a visionary. Lincoln wanted to first bring the change in people when they understand the true equality before forcefully enfranchising the bills. He wanted a strong evolution rather than a blood-shed and short-term revolution. So true it is! This is something India lacked I believe. We had an exceptional constitution just right after the freedom but when India wasn't even ready. People of India were not at a place to comprehend their own situation and did not even understand what was in the constitution, let alone perceiving it was for greater good.

When Stevens blares out his opinion that people should ignite their inner compass to head towards justice, Lincoln responds that compass always points towards True North without knowing if its swamps/ deserts that you are being directed to and what use it is when it only leads you to sink in the swamps?

When the Bill was finally passed in the House, Stevens quotes that - "the most liberating constitutional amendment in history had been passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America"!!

Lincoln had the smoothest flow portraying the brilliance of theatrical acting skills. Each and every actor in the movie contributed to make it a perfect story in motion. I enjoyed watching the movie and of late I truly missed movie experience which Lincoln has outstandingly entertained me with a moral value...

"Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right"

3 comments:

vinay said...

Good review. :)

Anil Krishnanunni said...

Well written review! Speilberg is a master in doing biographies! You must have seen Schindler's List right :)

Divya Khanna said...

Yes, ofcourse! Schindler's list was a masterpiece!

Powered by Blogger.