Lincoln is a 2012 American historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as United States President Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln. The film is based in part on Doris Kearns Goodwin's biography of Lincoln, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, and covers the final four months of Lincoln's life, focusing on the President's efforts in January 1865 to have the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed by the United States House of Representatives.
Filming began October 17, 2011, and ended on December 19, 2011. Lincoln premiered on October 8, 2012, at the New York Film Festival. The film was released on November 9, 2012, in select cities and widely released on November 16, 2012, in the United States by DreamWorks Pictures through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures' Touchstone Pictures distribution label in the U.S. The film was scheduled for release on January 25, 2013, in the United Kingdom, with distribution in international territories, including the U.K., by 20th Century Fox.
Lincoln received widespread critical acclaim, with major praise directed to Day-Lewis' performance. In December 2012, the film was nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards including Best Picture (Drama), Best Director for Spielberg and winning Best Actor (Drama) for Day-Lewis. The film has been nominated for twelve Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Spielberg and winning Best Actor for Day-Lewis. The film also became a commercial success by grossing more than $166 million at the box office.
Synopsis[]
In January 1865, United States President Abraham Lincoln expects the Civil War to end soon, with the defeat of the Confederate States. He is concerned that his 1863 Emancipation Proclamation may be discarded by the courts after the war and that the proposed Thirteenth Amendment will be defeated by the returning slave states. He feels it imperative to pass the amendment beforehand, to remove any possibility that freed slaves might be re-enslaved.
The Radical Republicans fear the amendment will be defeated by some who wish to delay its passage; support from Republicans in the border states is not yet assured. The amendment also requires the support of several Democratic congressmen to pass. With dozens of Democrats being lame ducks after losing their re-election campaigns in the fall of 1864, some of Lincoln's advisors believe he should wait for a new Republican-heavy Congress. Lincoln remains adamant about having the amendment in place before the war is concluded and the southern states are re-admitted.
Lincoln's hopes rely upon Francis Preston Blair, a founder of the Republican Party whose influence could win over members of the border state conservative faction. With Union victory in the Civil War highly likely but not yet secured, and with two sons serving in the Union Army, Blair is keen to end hostilities quickly before the spring thaw arrives and the armies march again. Therefore, in return for his support, Blair insists that Lincoln allow him to engage the Confederate government in peace negotiations. However, Lincoln knows that significant support for the amendment comes from Radical Republicans, for whom negotiated peace is unacceptable. Unable to proceed without Blair's support, Lincoln reluctantly authorizes Blair's mission.
In the meantime, Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward work to secure Democratic votes for the amendment. Lincoln suggests they concentrate on the lame-duck Democrats, as they will feel freer to vote as they choose and soon need employment; Lincoln will have many federal jobs to fill as he begins his second term. Though Lincoln and Seward are unwilling to offer monetary bribes to the Democrats, they authorize agents to contact Democratic congressmen with offers of federal jobs in exchange for their support. Meanwhile, Lincoln's son, Robert, returns from law school and announces his intention to discontinue his studies and enlist in the Union Army, hoping to earn a measure of honor and respect outside of his father's shadow before the war's end. Lincoln reluctantly secures an officer's commission for Robert. The First Lady is aghast, fearing that he will be killed. She furiously presses her husband to pass the amendment and end the war, promising woe upon him if he should fail.
At a critical moment in the debate in the House of Representatives, racial-equality advocate Thaddeus Stevens agrees to moderate his position and argue that the amendment represents only legal equality, not a declaration of actual equality. Meanwhile, Confederate envoys are ready to meet with Lincoln to discuss terms for peace, but he instructs they be kept out of Washington as the amendment approaches a vote on the House floor. Rumor of their mission circulates, prompting both Democrats and conservative Republicans to advocate postponing the vote. In a carefully worded statement, Lincoln denies there are envoys in Washington, and the vote proceeds, passing by a margin of just two votes. Black visitors to the gallery celebrate, and Stevens returns home to his "housekeeper" and lover, a black woman.
When Lincoln meets with the Confederates, he tells them slavery cannot be restored, as the North is united for ratification of the amendment, and several of the southern states' reconstructed legislatures would also vote to ratify. As a result, the peace negotiations fail, and the war continues. On April 3, Lincoln visits the battlefield at Petersburg, Virginia, where he exchanges a few words with Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. On April 9, Grant receives General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, making the beginning of the end of the Civil War. On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, a cheerful Lincoln expresses to his wife that they will be happy in the future and later meets members of Congress to discuss future measures to enfranchise blacks, before leaving for Ford's Theatre, where he was assassinated off-screen. That night, Lincoln's youngest son, Tad, is watching Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp at Grover's Theatre, until the theater manager suddenly stops the play to announce that the President has been shot at Ford's Theatre. The next morning, at 7:22 A.M on April 15, 1865, after going into a coma for eight hours, Lincoln died at 7:22 A.M. at the Petersen House across the street from Ford's Theatre; in a flashback, Lincoln finishes his second inaugural address on March 4.
Cast[]
Lincoln Household[]
- Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln
- Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln
- Gloria Reuben as Elizabeth Keckley
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Todd Lincoln
- Gulliver McGrath as Tad Lincoln
- Stephen McKinley Henderson as William Slade
- Elizabeth Marvel as Mrs. Jolly
- Bill Camp as Mr. Jolly
Union Army[]
- Adam Driver as Samuel Beckwith
- Jared Harris as Ulysses S. Grant
- Asa-Luke Twocrow as Ely S. Parker
- Colman Domingo as Harold Green
- David Oyelowo as Ira Clark
- Lukas Haas as First White Soldier
- Dane DeHaan as Second White Soldier
White House[]
- David Strathairn as State William H. Seward
- Bruce McGill as Edwin M. Stanton
- Joseph Cross as John Hay
- Jeremy Strong as John George Nicolay
- Grainger Hines as Gideon Welles
- Richard Topol as James Speed
- Dakin Matthews as John Palmer Usher
- Walt Smith as William P. Fessenden
- James Ike Eichling as William Dennison Jr.
House of Representative[]
- Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens
- Lee Pace as Fernando Wood
- Peter McRobbie as George H. Pendleton
- Bill Raymond as Schuyler Colfax
- David Costabile as James Ashley
- Stephen Spinella as Asa Vintner Litton
- Michael Stuhlbarg as George Yeaman
- Boris McGiver as Alexander Coffroth
- Walton Goggins as Clay Hawkins
- David Warshofsky as William Hutton
- Michael Stanton Kennedy as Hiram Price
- Raynor Scheine as Josiah S. "Beanpole" Burton
- Christopher Evan Welch as Edward McPherson
- Wayne Duvall as Bluff Wade
Republican Party[]
- Hal Holbrook as Francis Preston Blair
- James Spader as William N. Bilbo
- Tim Blake Nelson as Richard Schell
- John Hawkes as Robert Latham
- Byron Jennings as Montgomery Blair
- Julie White as Elizabeth Blair Lee
- S. Epatha Merkerson as Lydia Smith
- Wayne Duvall as Benjamin "Bluff Ben" Wade
- John Hutton as Charles Sumner
Confederate States[]
- Jackie Earle Haley as Alexander H. Stephens
- Gregory Itzin as John Archibald Campbell
- Michael Shiflett as Robert M. T. Hunter
- Christopher Boyer as Robert E. Lee
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Lincoln (2012 film). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. |
