Lincoln
2012 · United States · 150 min
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
- Screenplay
- Tony Kushner
- Producer
- Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
- Music
- John Williams
- Cinematography
- Janusz Kamiński
- Editing
- Michael Kahn
- Production company
- DreamWorks, 20th Century Studios, Amblin Entertainment
- Based on
- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Awards: Academy Award for Best Actor; Academy Award for Best Production Design; National Board of Review: Top Ten Films; Satellite Award for Best Film; Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Film · 12 nominations
Cast
What it is about
January 1865. The American Civil War seems to be heading toward its end, and President Abraham Lincoln is determined to have the Thirteenth Amendment, which would abolish slavery, passed before the southern states return to the Union. To achieve this he must win over members of his own party and Democrats who have lost their seats, while Radical Republicans press him and his political and family circle raise moral dilemmas. The film portrays this parliamentary struggle as a political drama rather than a war story.
How it was made
The project began in 1999, when Doris Kearns Goodwin told Steven Spielberg she was writing Team of Rivals, the book that partly inspired the screenplay. DreamWorks secured the rights in 2001. John Logan wrote an early script and Paul Webb rewrote it, but Spielberg postponed the shoot planned for 2006 because he was unhappy with the result. Tony Kushner wrote the final version, focusing on a few months of the president's life. Daniel Day-Lewis leads the cast alongside Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tommy Lee Jones. Filming ran from October to December 2011, with Janusz Kaminski as cinematographer, Michael Kahn as editor and John Williams composing the score. Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy produced, with several companies involved, including DreamWorks and Participant Media.
Reception and legacy
Critics praised Day-Lewis's performance above all, along with Spielberg's direction and the film's production values. It earned twelve Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won Best Actor and Best Production Design. At the Golden Globes it received seven nominations, and Day-Lewis took the award for Best Actor in a drama. It was also a commercial success, grossing more than 275 million dollars worldwide at the box office. It is now regarded as one of the best works in Spielberg's career.
Stills
Trailer
Clicking loads the video from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode). Open on YouTube
Trivia
A script with a large bibliography
In 2008 Kushner joked that he was writing his 967,000th book about Abraham Lincoln, a figure that reflects how many works exist about the president.
A postponed shoot
Filming was set for January 2006, but Spielberg delayed it because he was dissatisfied with the script, which gave time for the story to be rewritten.
More films by Steven Spielberg
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
Jurassic Park
Raiders of the Lost Ark
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
JawsOriginal Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.