Lincoln on Thanksgiving

This year my Thanksgiving Movie was Lincoln, the Steven Spielberg-directed, Daniel Day-Lewis-starring movie about the last months of President Lincoln's life as he worked to get the 13th Amendment passed. The move is extraordinary. I don't know if I have enough awesome words to convey how much I loved this movie. Lincoln is without a doubt the best President ever, and it is amazing how Day-Lewis brings him to life. It's as if I spent the evening with the President himself. I could feel his weariness of the war, his desire to make men free, his love for America.

Spielberg generally directs with a lot more flair, but here he lets the actors all do their things (and there's  a lot of them) with very simple camera movements. The scenes are lit sparcely (shot by Janusz Kaminski, longtime cinematographer for Spielberg) as perhaps it would be like in 1865. The White House itself is an office as much as it is a home, with people coming and going, the President doing his work throughout.

The cast is pretty incredible. Day-Lewis is nothing short of amazing. He's surrounded by Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley, Lee Pace (!). My favorite, other than Lincoln himself, was Jared Harris as Ulysses S. Grant. Harris is a brit known mostly for his role on Mad Men and I loved seeing him doing this completely different role. Day-Lewis is clearly the star, but all the other characters get their chance to shine and do so much with their little screen time.

Even though I knew how everything would turn out, the political maneuvering was intense and when the final vote was taken I was anxious to see what would happen. When Lincoln leaves the White House to attend a play at Ford Theater, I wanted to yell at him to not go. I cried when he died. What a remarkable man. 

I got chills watching a particular scene where the President, holed up with his Cabinet in the White House, forcefully conveys to them why this Amendment is so important--why right now, at this moment, it must be seen through. Then, at the end, when the Amendment has been passes, there's a simple scene of Lincoln sitting on a porch with Ulysses S. Grant. He speaks with so much compassion about the reinstatement of the Southern states and the men who fought for the Confederacy. It's beautiful.

See the movie. It's awesome.