We as people by and large enjoy films. They excite us, we sit on the edges of our seats holding our breath waiting to find out what comes next, and they make us laugh and cry. For some of us most of what we believe about history comes from the films we watch. As late 2012 rolled around Steven Spielberg released the film Lincoln to rave reviews. Moviegoers across the board flocked to theaters to see the new movie. Meanwhile the all the history buffs among them were probably wondering, and a touch concerned, as to exactly how much of it would be fact and how much of it would be simply a fictional interpretation of the corresponding. The quality of the total film, alongside truly remarkable performances by Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones and many others, certainly lent it a grounded feel. But just how accurate is it? To this question there is both a short answer, and a long one. The short answer: very. The long answer requires more examination.s The film Lincoln is set during over the course of a few short months in late 1865, and the plot as a whole is extremely factual. As the movie well illustrates, it was an intense time in Washington. Confederate peace commissioners were trying to work out an end to the war, at the same time the House of Representatives was in heated debate over the issue of the 13th Amendment to completely abolish slavery, both events encompassing some shady political maneuvering, some of it by Lincoln himself. Several critics have pointed out that there were other events happening at the same time, which helped to push both the 13th Amendment and end the war forward. Eric Foner points out that “slavery died on the ground” as well as in the House, due to a combination of abolition efforts by feminist leaders ... ... middle of paper ... ...ew of the various individuals involved. Day-Lewis’s Lincoln has been hailed as one of the most honest portrayals of the president to date, everything down to that unexpected voice, which was described by Lincoln’s contemporaries as being high in nature and rather reedy, not the gravelly deep voice we often characterize in harmony with the sixteenth president. One of the greatest triumphs of the film by far is the depth it adds to President Lincoln, rather than to simply portraying him as a shallow, poorly portrayed saint. The Lincoln of this film is undeniably a good man, and on the other hand we are reminded that he is also a skilled politician, willing to get his hands a dirty in order to accomplish the things he knows, and holds to be right. Overall films are extremely entertaining, exciting us from the highest of emotions to the lowest. The 2012 film Lincoln
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Show MoreIn today's day and age, it's rare to see famous historical events and societal disasters not be picked apart by film directors and then transformed into a box office hit. What these films do is put a visual perspective on these events, sometimes leaving viewers speculating if whatever was depicted is in fact entirely true. I have never felt that feeling more than after I finished watching Oliver Stone’s JFK.
From the day, the first European set foot on American soil up until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which occurred in 1865. Slavery was a controversial issue. The issue of slavery divided up the United States of America to ultimately put the two against each other. The Northern States who identifies themselves as the Union disapproved of the atrocious actions of the South who condone the crude treatment of slaves and the disturbing practices of slavery. Although slavery was not the sole cause of the Civil war, it played an important part in the disunion of the United States. The battle between states rights and federal rights rubbed more salt in the already enormous wound. Southern States who later considers themselves the confederates disapproved of the idea that the available actions of the states to act upon certain situations were dwindling, reducing the power and rights of the states. The set up of all these complications and disagreements led to the secession of the southern states which initiated the start of the brutal American Civil War which lasted from 1861 to 1865.
...te to win the battle. The idea that it seemed too desperate came from William Seward the Secretary of State. Even though Lincoln did sign the Emancipation Proclamation, it was the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution that issued the law to outlaw slavery in all states; therefore it should be the Thirteenth Amendment that was responsible for the freedom of slavery.
... addition to preserving the Union. By the end of the war, it had influenced citizens to accept the abolition for all slaves in both the North and South. The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States, passed on December 6, 1865.
... to the extent Daniel Day Lewis (Abraham Lincoln) goes to too understand the role he is playing. An argument that historians raise about certain historical films is that they distort the true of history by adding traits such as romance and exaggerated battle scenes. To rule out historical films completely by exerting that they distort history completely is irrational seeing as the two behaviours historians use to understand why historical figure behave is almost exactly the same behaviours a method actor uses to portray their historical character on screen.
He was sitting back in the movie and I know that they didn 't want to show him the whole time but he wasn 't able to show all his features I thought. Now Lincoln today as president would be interesting. I would want to see how he feels about everything that is going on. His morals would still be the same but the world he lived in is completely different then the world were all living in now. Money exceeds more than what people can talk about but I think that Lincoln would still be able to sway people to what he thought was morally right. I wish that Lincoln could be our president now. I feel that he was a hard and driven person by what the movie showed and got what he wanted. Thats what type of president that we need I 'm not saying that we don 't have one now. The thing is no one will ever be able to have the persuasion Lincoln
As I read these articles further as well as many others I found more and more to call out from the movie. Though all of my sources of information I have come across seemed to follow each other very well. As I expanded my base knowledge of the topic I found an endless stream of background information. At this point I forced myself to stop my search and came to the conclusion that around sixty percent of the movie was historically accurate.
Ever since movies began to be made after historical events they always include inaccuracies in the ways they depict them. Film’s ability to offer visual representation of historical events sure beat reading a book due to the fact they fill the viewer up with information and entertainment. History films are a stand-in for reality, leading the viewer to witness wars, and events as if he/she is present during that time. Directors tend to see the injunction to present the past accurately in terms of plot and set design and do whatever it is possible to get these details right. The focus of some directors is to catch the viewers’ attention so that people will actually go see the film. They are often forced to sacrifice real events and add a twist to it so that it becomes more entertaining to watch. In the movies; Flags of our Fathers, The Great Raid, The Thin Red Line, and Pearl Harbor directors did whatever they could to depict events accurately. Major events are described as they really happened, but there is always something added that did not exactly occur from what the textbook tel...
Lincoln is a riveting movie on the true events leading up to the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and the end of the Civil War. Lincoln is directed by Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis starred in the movie as Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln is based on the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Lincoln was nominated for twelve Academy Awards. Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor in a Motion Picture at the Golden Globe Awards. Despite all the good praise for Lincoln, there was still some criticisms about the Lincoln by movie critics. The movie critics claimed the movie was not completely accurate and was exaggerated. However, even historians agreed Lincoln was a thought provoking movie that would make people look for more information on the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Steven Spielberg proves to his audience yet again his mastery and skill in the cinematic arts in his 2012 historical drama, Lincoln. Spielberg's directing experience, accompanied by a convincing portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, by Daniel Day-Lewis provides the people with a film stocked with emotion, suspense, and triumph. However, as with most films based on historical events and figures, Spielberg takes certain liberties in his role as a director to adjust with the accuracy of that history. These adjustments lead to a series of questions worth pondering. Even though a director like Spielberg or script-writer like Tony Kushner, the script-writer for Lincoln, has the ability to make these changes, is it necessary? Will changing certain facts of a film make that film more entertaining for the audience, even though some of its authenticity gets lost in transition? A bigger question would be if these changes will distort the audiences comprehension of the history. As a result, these changes tell a different story for its viewers. Several inaccuracies in Lincoln include the representatives of Connecticut and their role in the final vote, the exaggerated role of Lincoln's wife Mary Todd Lincoln, the use of the Gettysburg Address early in the film, and Lincoln's true intentions as president in passing the Thirteenth Amendment.
Earlier in the semester we defined historical memory as an interpretation of the past and how a group of people remembered history in order to shape it to their current needs. After assessing the differences between the characters in the film and novel, comparing the different versions of Lincoln, and identifying central themes of the works, we could use historical memory to give a definite answer as to why we used the principles of the Twenty-First Century to convert Mr. Lincoln into a vampire hunter. In reference to the varying characters within the film and the novel, the book was written in a more historically accurate manner where there was no central black characters surrounding Lincoln, however, the movie created a central African American character and a central voice for women. The Twenty-First Century film producers incorporated the ongoing fight to end the oppression of women and African American individuals. They did this in order to show the advancement of the United States while simultaneously surrounding President Lincoln in the movie with progressive, Twenty-First Century characters that would not have been viable at the time in which Abe was alive. Another way
The passage of the 13th amendment seems simple. Lincoln declared the emancipation proclamation and set the majority of the slaves free. General opinion was already shifting toward abolition and a bill like the 13th amendment seemed inevitable. This is the well-known but extremely overgeneralized view of national abolition. Leonard L. Richards attempts to correct this general perspective in Who freed the slaves?. He argues that abolitionists were actually fighting an uphill battle throughout the civil war. Not only was there opposition from Democrats, the majority of Republicans was also against abolition. This only changed near the end of the civil war with countless endeavors to change public opinion and heavy secret bargaining.
As Abraham Lincoln was president “On February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures.” President Lincoln was a big and a decisive part of ratifying the 13th Amendment.” (Our Documents). The passing of the 13th Amendment was one of the most influential Amendments passed in the U.S. ended slavery, but African Americans still did not have the same rights that white Americans did. With the help of the 16th president Abraham Lincoln the ratification of the 13th Amendment would not exist. After the passing of this document the African Americans did not have the same freedom the white Americans did but they had a lot of freedom. Without this document where would the United States be?
Even strangers walking down the street would look at Lincoln and point and stare. In the movie theatre with his mother one day a man pointed Lincoln out and called him "Black, ugly and odd." They said that he was "The real thing." Lincoln found happiness in this statement. "The real thing" made him feel like he was special, a somebody.
A trivial question I had was that of Lincoln’s voice. After thinking about my question for a second, I realized that there is no exact way to determine Lincoln’s voice, as there are no such recordings of him speaking. In Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis speaks as President Lincoln with a high tenor voice. While digging for records of his voice I found most people agree on Lincoln’s calming voice “…but his voice calm and clear, his bearing frank and sure. ” Another quality of Lincoln displayed in the movie that had me wondering, was Lincoln storytelling and humor. Among the humorous anecdotes Lincoln tells his staff during the film, include the Ethan Allen story, and the story of a 70-year-old woman whom he aided to escape from law. According to Team of Rivals, both of these anecdotes were among Lincoln’s favorite stories and the content of the story is almost verbatim to historical accounts of these stories . Lincoln was noted to tell stories and humorous anecdotes to prove a point obliquely or to ease tensions during a difficult situation just as the way Lincoln uses his storytelling skill during the film . Again, the movie is incredibly accurate on one of Lincoln’s most unique attributes that helped shape him to be one of our most memorable