History Film / Lincoln

[[caption-width-right:300:''[[DoNotGoGentle Thunder Forth,]] [[ReligiousBruiser God Of War.]]''

[[caption-width-right:300:''"Shall we stop this bleeding?"'']]

->''"[[DoNotGoGentle Thunder Forth,]] [[ReligiousBruiser God Of War."''

->''"Do we choose to be born? Or are we fitted to the times we're born into?"''

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: As Spielberg put it on the 149th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address: "It's not the job, and in fact it's a betrayal of the job, of a historian to promise perfect and complete recall of the past, to promise memory that abolishes loss. One of the jobs of art is to go to the impossible places that other disciplines, like history, must avoid." [[MST3KMantra With that in mind]]...

** Lincoln was not clothed upon his death (so the doctors could check for other wounds) and was laid diagonally, since the bed he was put in was too small for him.

* NiceHat: Abe and his stovepipe hat, in which he sometimes stores speeches.

** Bilbo and his cohorts were real and lobbied congressmen on Seward's behalf during the 13th Amendment debate. Beyond that, their portrayals are largely invented. Bilbo's collaboration with Seward and Lincoln was hardly a secret as the film depicts: Bilbo had met Lincoln and corresponded with him regularly about political matters, unlike the film where he strains to keep his distance from the President, while Latham and Schell were longtime friends and political partners of Seward. On the other hand, historians question whether Bilbo and Co. succeeded in changing a significant number of votes, with only one congressman[[note]]Wells Hutchins of Ohio, who may have planned to switch votes anyway, and received no patronage appointments after leaving office to reward him[[/note]] believed to have actually been influenced by Bilbo's entreaties.

** Bilbo and his cohorts were real and lobbied congressmen on Seward's behalf during the 13th Amendment debate. Beyond that, their portrayals are largely invented. Bilbo's collaboration with Seward and Lincoln was hardly a secret as the film depicts: Bilbo had met Lincoln and corresponded with him regularly about political matters, unlike the film where he strains to keep his distance from the President, while Latham and Schell were longtime friends and political partners of Seward. On the other hand, historians question whether Bilbo and Co.. actually succeeded in changing a significant number of votes, with only one congressman[[note]]Wells Hutchins of Ohio[[/note]] believed to have actually been influenced by Bilbo's entreaties.

* AgeLift: Sally Field is 9 years older than Day-Lewis, the reverse of Lincoln's difference to Mary. Thankfully the make-up makes him look older than her.

** Tad Lincoln is shown as a normal eleven year-old boy in the film. In real life Tad Lincoln had a very serious speech impediment, to the point that only his closest family and teachers could understand him. (He later had speech therapy to overcome this.) Based on photographic evidence, he most likely had a cleft lip or cleft palate.

** Lincoln impressions almost invariably use a deep, sonorous tone (this started with molasses-voiced Raymond Massey in his [[Theatre/AbeLincolnInIllinois 1940 performance]]), when in reality Lincoln had a high and nasal voice. Many viewers were confused to first hear Lewis's performance, which has been praised by Lincoln scholars for being very realistic. It didn't help that Day-Lewis's voice was at its highest and most nasal when he was shouting or speaking loudly in excitement, and the movie trailers contain a disproportionate (to the movie) number of those moments.\\
\\
But even so, ''despite'' said voice, Lincoln was known as an immensely charismatic man who held gravitas in his stance, which Day-Lewis captures ''perfectly.'' His voice actually gave him a political advantage at the time. This predated microphones and in order to be heard in a crowd one would have to speak in a loud booming voice, like the members of congress. Lincoln's voice was soft, but was very clear and projected well (as demonstrated by the speech at the end). This meant he came across as very affable to the people.

** Stevens mentions a wig in one of his early scenes. In his final appearance, we see his magnificent BaldOfAwesome.

''Lincoln'' is a historical retelling of the [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln 16th President of the United States]]'s attempts to get the Thirteenth Amendment passed, directed by Creator/StevenSpielberg and written by [[Theatre/AngelsInAmerica Tony Kushner]], based on the acclaimed biography ''Team of Rivals'' by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It stars Creator/DanielDayLewis as Lincoln, Creator/SallyField as Mary Todd Lincoln, Creator/JosephGordonLevitt as their son Robert and has a supporting cast that includes Creator/TommyLeeJones, Creator/DavidStrathairn, Creator/JaredHarris and Creator/JackieEarleHaley.

* AnachronismStew: This film [[https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/01/did-anyone-say-racial-equality-in-1865-the-language-of-i-lincoln-i/266990/ uses phrases that didn't exist pack then]], [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Justified because]] [[CulturalTranslation modern audiences wouldn't understand 19th century]] upper-crust (or worse yet: slang) UsefulNotes/AmericanEnglish

->''"Do we choose to be born? Or are we fitted to the times we’re born into?"''

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: As Spielberg put it on the 149th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address: "It’s not the job, and in fact it’s a betrayal of the job, of a historian to promise perfect and complete recall of the past, to promise memory that abolishes loss. One of the jobs of art is to go to the impossible places that other disciplines, like history, must avoid.” [[MST3KMantra With that in mind]]...

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: At the very end, during the carriage ride, between Lincoln and Mary, after spending the film arguing about their son Robert’s desire to enlist in the military, affirm their love for each other.

'''Mary''': Then do it! Do it! Don't you threaten me,you do it this time! Lock me away! You'll have to, I swear if Robert is killed!

* TitleIn: A frequent sight throughout the film, e.g., [[AC:JANUARY, 1865 / TWO MONTHS HAVE PASSED SINCE ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S RE-ELECTION / THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR IS NOW IN ITS FOURTH YEAR]].

[[quoteright:304:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lincoln-first-poster_6519.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:304:Shall we stop this bleeding?]]

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: As was apparently [[TruthInTelevision true to life]], Confederate Vice-President Alexander Stephens is respectful to the black Union soldiers he meets, in contrast to his fellow Confederate escort. In real life, Stephens was a white supremacist and avid supporter of slavery, but he campaigned for better treatment of slaves and apparently treated his slaves well enough that many stayed with him as paid servants after the war, and one even served as a pallbearer. Lincoln and Stephens were also friends before the war, as hinted at when Lincoln addresses him as "Alex."

''Lincoln'' is a historical retelling of the [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln 16th President of the United States]]'s attempts to get the Thirteenth Amendment passed, directed by Creator/StevenSpielberg and written by [[Theatre/AngelsInAmerica Tony Kushner]], based on the acclaimed biography ''Team of Rivals'' by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It stars Creator/DanielDayLewis as Lincoln, Creator/SallyField as Mary Todd Lincoln, Creator/JosephGordonLevitt as their son Robert and has a supporting cast that includes Creator/TommyLeeJones, David Strathairn, Jared Harris and Creator/JackieEarleHaley.

Set during the last four months of President Abraham Lincoln's life, the film's main focus is on his guiding of the political forces in America to end the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Civil War]] and pass the 13th Amendment, thereby abolishing slavery. This is much harder than it sounds, due to the many political divisions not just in the North (to say nothing of the country) at the time, but also in Lincoln's own party. The Radical Republicans led by Representative Thaddeus Stevens demand a strong bill to be passed at all costs, while the more conservative party members led by the Blair family want to hold off until they can try one more chance at negotiating peace with the rebellious South. Throwing complete support behind either side risks the Amendment not getting passed at all, and even with the support of his own party, Lincoln still needs some Democratic support to pass the amendment as well. This sets the stage for a series of behind the scenes maneuvers to sway certain Congressmen to break from their party and vote for the Amendment.

* BerserkButton:
** Despite his best efforts to keep his temper, Thaddeus Stevens completely loses it when George Pendleton [[{{Foreshadowing}} desparagingly mentions]] [[spoiler:[[ItsPersonal interracial marriage.]]]]
** Lincoln has clearly had it up to here when Representative Ashley asks him how they're supposed to procure the remaining votes in only two nights and a day.
--->'''Lincoln:''' [[TranquilFury Buzzards' guts, man...]]''(stands up)'' [[BadassBoast I am the President of the United States...clothed in]] '''[[SuddenlyShouting IMMENSE POWER.]]''' ''You will procure me these votes.''

** James Spader's appearance as William Bilbo had to be guessed from various sources because there are no photos of the real Bilbo. One habit of his that Spader found was that the real Bilbo was into wood carving, which he incorporated by showing him frequently carving a wooden duck.

* ArmorPiercingResponse: Secretary Seward initially urges Lincoln to hold off on calling for a vote on the 13th Amendment until Congress elected in 1864 meets for the first time, upon which the House of Representatives will have a Republican majority. Lincoln, however, insists it must be done before then because the war will be over soon and many Republicans will see no reason to vote for the 13th if the South is already defeated. To test this Seward asks a visiting couple who claim to support the amendment if they would still vote for it if the war were already won, to which they admit they wouldn't, they only care about winning the war sooner.

* AnachronismStew: This film [[https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/01/did-anyone-say-racial-equality-in-1865-the-language-of-i-lincoln-i/266990/ uses phrases that didn't exist pack then]], [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Justified because]] [[CulturalTranslation modern audiences wouldn't understand 19th century]] upper-crust (or worse yet: slang) UsefulNotes/AmericanEnglish

* {{Adorkable}}: Representative Ashley gives off this vibe in some scenes. The round face and curly hair help.

** Pettifoggers are underhanded, disreputable shyster lawyers, and ones who nitpick and quibble over trifling details; hucksters are peddlers who typically sell their goods on street curbs, or go from door-to-door.

* AGodAmI: Averted with Lincoln, who has no symptoms of seeing himself as a god, but makes a boast as he encourages William Seward and James Ashley to go out and gather support for the proposed amendment:

* AnachronismStew: This film [[https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/01/did-anyone-say-racial-equality-in-1865-the-language-of-i-lincoln-i/266990/ uses phrases that didn't exist pack then]], [[TropesAreTools Justified because]] [[CulturalTranslation modern audiences wouldn't understand 19th century]] upper-crust (or worse yet: slang) UsefulNotes/AmericanEnglish