I met Daniel Day Lewis once I randomly around downtown in my city. I knew of his work and wanted to talk with him, but he was window shopping, and I didn't bother him before I even thought to say anything he walked over and asked about my boots which was a pair of older Red Wings. We talked about boots, leather, and the entire process of making boots, then complimented me on my maintenance. We talked about it so much that I forgot he was an actor. He was so inquisitive and soft-spoken, but every word was purposeful, didn't have a hint of any of his characters in his voice. I was starstruck, but before he went on with his day, I told him I appreciated his work. He smiled and said,"I love that, but I'm retired, and you have about another year before you need a resole. It was a plentiful conversation. Good day, sir." That will be a conversation I will keep with me. I saw a glimpse of the man behind the roles. That's a rare thing.
What a great story, and a great meeting! For people who may not be aware, Daniel Day Lewis retired from acting but continued to pursue his other avocation, which is cobbling (making shoes & boots).
Fun trivia. Robert Lincoln's life was saved by Edwin Booth when Robert slipped on a train and almost fell between two passenger cars. Edwin grabbed him by the jacket and was able to pull him back on his feet before he fell. Edwin Booth was John Wilkes Booth's brother.
More fun trivia, the Secret Service was created under Lincoln to fight counterfeiting of our currency. It wasn't until after his assassination that they were assigned to protect the President. Until then no President had ever been assassinated.
Didn't know that, that's pretty fascinating! Edwin Booth refused to allow the name of his brother spoken in his house following the assassination. A markedly different man.
Also, John Wilkes Booth and Robert Lincoln were both in love with the same woman (Lucy Hale), and the fact that Booth saw Lincoln as a rival for her affections may have partly fueled his anger toward President Lincoln.
Edwin Booth remarked later on that saving Robert's life and doing something good for the Lincoln family helped him cope a little better for the horrible thing his brother did.
The great thing about Daniel Day-Lewis is that you can watch "Phantom Thread," "Gangs of New York," "My Left Foot," "In the Name of the Father," and "There Will be Blood," and "Lincoln" and think to yourself "I can't even believe it's the same guy."
Jared Harris is great, as was Chernobyl (the show, not the disaster 🤦🏻♂️). Also, he’s the son of Richard Harris, the legendary British actor who Cassie knows as (the first) Professor Dumbledore. Richard Harris died after the 2nd Harry Potter movie was filmed & was replaced by Michael Gambon as Dumbledore.
@@jeffg.6110 Richard Harris was a proud Irishman from Limerick, his son Jared was born in England. Father and son, both great actors. Michael Gambon was also Irish, meaning Dumbledore must be Irish too!
DDL's portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in this movie was nothing short of miraculous. Positively riveting, from beginning to end, every word, every gesture, every emotion. I'm glad you experienced it, Cassie. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but DDL winning the Oscar for this role made him the first actor to win the Best Actor award a third time. EDIT: Another movie starring DDL that few people mention, but is actually my favorite of his after this one, is The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), co-starring Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin. In this viewer's opinion, another masterpiece.
Well, you grew up with Canadian history…but the United States has had a handful of incredible men serving as Presidents…most were mediocre…only a few shined..or were more than capable…some because they were…others because they picked good people to be part of their team…and, again, some served in times when the republic was in dire straits…war, depressions, natural disasters…
As President Obama showed us with his after 8 years…grey hair…the office of President can age you rather quickly because you are making critical decisions…that affect the entire world…
American kids out of college today…still have no grasp on their own history…or for that matter, geography..and forget spelling anything…those days are long gone…
Daniel Day-Lewis was superb, and give all credit to Tony Kushner for the screenplay. Stephen Spielberg filmed everything with natural lighting, and that makes the film seem so like something out of the nineteenth century. Filmmaking at its best.
Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't merely portray characters he is playing. He literally becomes them. One of the greatest actors of all time. Three time Best Actor Oscar winner.
The Native American fellow in General Grant's staff is Ely Parker, a Seneca. He rose to rank of Brigadier General during his service, and was later appointed as President Grant's Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Absolutely brilliant film. Absolutely brilliant performances. Absolutely brilliant writing. Daniel Day Lewis didn't portray Lincoln, he resurrected him.
I love this movie & this president. "John Adams" with Paul Giamatti is a remarkable miniseries on Max that illustrates what the founding fathers & their families went through to form this "more perfect union." Can't recommend it enough 😀
So good. She's done some other HBO miniseries, hope she does that one some day, especially with the history kick she's been on lately. That scene where he's an old man viewing the painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence always hits me.
John Adams might be the best single mini-series ever filmed. Simply brilliant!! And it gets the story right because it is based on David McCullough's excellent book.
@MrWigglesWorth So true dude. The relationship with John & his wife is was what hit me. Reminds me of the quote, "Behind every great man is a better woman." And no joke... When I tell people about this show, I tell them about the painting scene you mentioned 🤝
I don’t know why, but my favorite scene is when Adams meets King George III as the United States’ first ambassador to Britain. It’s word-for-word what was said, and I thought they put a great spin on it.
Some fun history. Lincoln was always known for his humor and his long winded stories and parables. He was also a wrestler in his younger days and never lost. He would always accept a wrestling challenge even in his older years. He still never lost. On the House floor, insults were amazing. They were creative and sometimes very cruel. It, most of the time, kept them from physically fighting on the House floor. But not always. There were physical fights on the House floor. Some that sent congressmen to the hospital.
I've been to the capitol and they still proudly display the bullet holes made by members of congress. In the old Carolina house they used to duel a lot. 2 men fought and one seemed to lose, got beaten pretty hard. Bystanders asked how it felt to lose. He chuckled and said,"I'm not sure he sees it that way." As he opened his hand and revealed the other guys left eyeball. Gouged it clean out over laws that got tossed when king George reconsolidated all the colonial charters.
@@ct6852 The Senator who was caned was named Charles Sumner, a member of the Free Soil Party in 1851. He represented the state of Massachusetts and was an ardent abolitionist. He was one of the founding members of the Republican Party and gave many a speech calling for the end of slavery. In May of 1856 he gave a powerful speech which so inflamed a Congressman from South Carolina, Preston Brooks, that Brooks almost beat him to death. There is some evidence it was not solely because of the speech's anti-slavery message but also because Sumner included a personal verbal attack on a cousin of Brooks, Senator Andrew Butler who also served the state of South Carolina. Sumner was physically unable to return to the Senate for three years, but he did eventually recover. While he was incapacitated, the voters of Massachusetts reelected Sumner anyway and his vacant chair in the Senate was a powerful symbol. He returned physically to the Senate in 1859. His attacker resigned his seat to allow for a special election to be held, in part to allow the voters to decide if he should remain in office. They reelected him...and reelected him again in the 1856 election, but he died in 1857, five weeks before he would have returned to the House of Representatives.
In those days, the President was Inaugurated on March 4th, a full five months after the preceding elections in early November. It was Lincoln's first election to President in 1860 that kicked off the Southern Secession, so that by the time he was already sworn in, a full-blown Civil War had already begun. By no means was Lincoln an abolitionist early on-he advocated only stopping the spread of slavery to new western territories! However, that was enough for the South to see their Golden Goose as having a time limit now attached to it, so they bolted, and fired the first shots of the war at the Union Fort Sumter. Lincoln rallied the nation behind a 'National Unity' coalition and by 1864, with his handpicked Vice President being a Democrat (most Democrats defected with the South, Lincoln was the first elected Republican, a newly formed political party). And he gave the Gettysburg Address after the famous battle, seemingly condemning the wretched institution of slavery (which is where this movie begins). BUT, his words and the subsequent Emancipation Proclamation, weren't worth the paper they were printed on. Slavery would still have been allowed in certain corners of the USA, unless it were abolished forever. And the only way to do that was by Constitutional Amendment!
I always thought that Abe having started as a Moderate only shows the effect that the South’s fuckeries had on Moderates like him. He started the war claiming “Preserve the Union above all” and ended the war with “FUCK THAT i’m gonna push the 13A thru even if I have to job-bribe Democrat congressmen.”
There are a lot of character nuances captured in this movie that are incredibly accurate to Lincoln in real Life. Daniel Day-Lewis' voice is accurate. A primary source, I think a soldier, once described his voice as high-pitched and reedy and Lewis captured that perfectly. And Lincoln was said to be incredibly long-winded. His telling the story about Ethan Allen and the English Nobleman really happened.
yeah I liked that bit of accuracy. Actors tend to portray Lincoln as having this deep, booming voice and a towering, commanding, charismatic presence... but contemporary descriptions of him are not like that at all. They're all much closer to what we see here... folksy, loves telling stories, with a very healthy (and a bit dirty) sense of humor... weighed down by the stress of his position and the pressures of his office during this, the most harrowing of times in our nation's history... he almost succumbed to it all... and then, also, what you said about his voice.
@@nooneofconsequence1251 Also, the Gettysburg Address was nowhere NEAR as impressive to its first audience as you might think. Lincoln's speech followed the speech of Edward Everett, a great orator of the day, who talked for a long time. By contrast, the Address was only twelve minutes long or so. There was silence when he finished, and as he sat down, he remarked to the man next to him, "Well, that wowed 'em, didn't it?" It only became a masterful piece of American oratory later, much after the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield, which was the reason Lincoln was there in Gettysburg in the first place.
I think the voice is the most striking thing that makes Lewis' Lincoln feel real. Lincoln is so often played with a deep voice that it just feels... like lifting the veil of history.
Lincoln wasnt ‘long winded’. It was standard at the time for speeches to go on for hours. In fact, there were professional speakers who were paid to make speeches that went for hours, and they attracted very big audiences. A number of Lincoln’s political opponents were men who became wealthy making such speeches. It was not normal for anyone to campaign for the residency at the time - in fact it was considered very low class to campaign for the presidency - but thats what lincoln did when he engaged the democratic senator, stephen douglas, in a series of public debates. Those debates made lincoln famous, partly because Douglas was a professional speaker and droned on for hours and lincoln didnt. Lincoln actually mocked douglas for the length of his speeches. As a result, lincoln honed a new style of shorter speeches. And the gettysburg address was initially condemned by ALL the newspapers for how short it was. It took a little while for them to change that view after they realised how popular it was.
The male aide asking him if he needs "comfort" was not lost on me. I have no idea if those rumors are true or not but the notion has come into fashion these days among historians. Anyways I noticed they slipped that in there.
I'm not one who usually comments, but as a student of Civil War history, I want you to know I enjoyed your observations while watching this masterpiece. For someone who didn't grow up learning about Lincoln from the time they were in grade school through college, you connected with this film. Some other great Civil War dramas are Glory, and Gettysburg. Or, the classic Gone With the Wind tells a romanticized version of life in the South before, during, and after the war. It's also a classic love story. Keep watching. I will, too. Cheers!
One amongst the many things that I love about Abraham Lincoln is his writing. Before the days of spin and teams of speech writers (correct me if I'm wrong) he wrote his own speeches. I have an old book of his letters and it's something he doesn't get enough praise for.
There is an amazing book called Team of Rivals that shows Lincoln's profound impact on even his greatest rivals for the presidency, who he persuaded to become his cabinet. They became fervently loyal to him
Hal Holbrook was well-known for his one-man show playing Mark Twain, which I saw once. Cassie might enjoy that; I think there is probably a recorded version for PBS.
@@bjgentryHe also played John Adams in a George Washington miniseries in 1984. It’s still up on CZcams if anyone wants to watch it. It’s really good.
I am German, Mr. A. Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents that ever existed and will ever exist. When I stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial, stately monument in Washington, I was literally paralyzed. I had a feeling he was about to rise. I'm not easily impressed, but A. Lincoln manages to do it every time. We desperately needed a person like Mr. A. Lincoln in the March 5, 1933 election. He could have democratically stopped the beasts that were getting ready to make their "appearance."
He and the Roosevelts were, in my opinion. . . The best 3 presidents we have ever had. For the people, just, men of integrity, and men of the highest caliber. They should be the standard if we are ever to live up to our ideals
Cassie, you may not realize this being Canadian, but at least when I was growing up (not sure about today), Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was a required memorization exercise in school (as in, stand before the class and recite it from memory). Every time I see this movie, I find myself murmuring the words along with the soldiers at the beginning. Seeing them quote his cemetery dedication back to him just before going off to their own possible demise, because they were just that uplifted by its timeless ideals, never fails to moisten my eyes. A short speech at some 272 words, Lincoln spoke for only a couple of minutes, as compared with another notable speaker that day, Edward Everett, whose own speech took 2 hours. Everett later wrote Lincoln that, “I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours, as you did in two minutes.”
Historians lament at the speech's brevity; there's only 1, maybe 2, photographs taken of the event. Lincoln's address was so short, period photographers weren't able to set up their equipment quickly enough!
This is an incredibly accurate portrait of Lincoln, and so much of his dialogue is taken from letters, recorded meetings, anecdotes of people who knew him and heard so many stories and sayings and not entirely appropriate jokes. And I love that Tony Kushner also included so many nods to Lincoln's love of Shakespeare, most of which (like the Bible) he knew by heart. He would recite them, in character, when he rafted down the Mississippi, with the rails that he split before he became a postmaster and then a lawyer. I think it was the photographer Matthew Brady, who was privileged to hear several soliloquies while he was setting up his camera for official portraits, who said that the President could have been a truly great actor. He only had three years of elementary education as a child, but he taught himself Latin, Spanish, calculus. Among our Presidents, he ranks with Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt as a true polymathic genius (and he shared a birthday with Charles Darwin, another genius responsible in so many ways for the world we live in).
By extending "Presidents Week", you've saved the best for last. This film does an excellent job of showing how politically shrewd Lincoln was. And that's important, because passion is rarely enough. Thank you so much for this reaction.
I still have a $50 Union Dollar that was my grandfather's great-grandfather's. My aunt recently sold a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation that Lincoln signed that's been in the family since the end of the Civil War.
In 2005 my high school class took a week-long trip to Washington D.C. I was able to go into Ford's theater and stand just a few feet away from where Abraham Lincoln was shot. It was a surreal experience.
Did you know that Booth was only at Ford's Theater that morning because he was picking up his mail? It was there that Ford's brother bragged to him that Lincoln would be attending the theater that night. Imagine how different history would be if Booth had decided not to pick up his mail that morning.
@@ct6852 No. He snuck into the audience and up to the box where Lincoln was watching a performance of OUR AMERICAN COUSIN. The guard who was supposed to be at his post wasn't there, and Booth had an easy shot. When he'd finished shooting Lincoln, he jumped dramatically over the balcony, landing on the stage, raised his knife in the air and shouted, "Sic semper tyrannis!" (Thus always with tyrants) He was an actor; he had to make a big gesture. That jump broke his ankle and made his flight from Washington very painful.
@@ct6852 He had done the play previously but he wasn't in that performance. He actually timed his shot to coincide with the line that would get the biggest laugh.
As a companion piece to this you may like to watch "The Conspirator" as I know you like courtroom dramas. It's the story of the trial of Mary Surratt, mother of one of the Lincoln conspirators. Many people aren't aware that Lincoln wasn't the only one attacked that night and that it was part of an organised plot. The film is directed by Robert Redford and stars James McAvoy and Robin Wright (Jenny from Forrest Gump).
It's true. The conspirators intended to assassinate Seward and the Vice President Johnson as well as General Grant. Grant had left Washington and was out of the way, the conspirator who was to attack Johnson got drunk and did not attempt it. Seward was violently attacked, stabbed several times and almost died.
Some commenters have noted that part of the greatness of Day Lewis's performance (which was great; I agree) is that he got Lincoln's voice right: it was, contemporaries said, fairly high-pitched and reedy, and DDL did, indeed, nail that part of it. He only hints at Lincoln's accent, though: Lincoln was born in Kentucky and grew up in southern Indiana; he had an "upper South" accent all his life. When his debates with Stephen Douglas gave him his first national fame (they were reprinted in newspapers across the country), he was invited to New York City and gave the Cooper Union Address -- the first chance the home plate of the still-new Republican Party had to hear and see in person this "prairie lawyer." The chairman of the party introduced him to the crowd, so Lincoln's first word were to thank him for the introduction and thank those who were there. Many accounts noted that his first two words, "Mr. Chairman," sounded like "Mr. Cheerman . . ." Lincoln had a "twang" to his voice -- not overpowering or distracting, but distinct and unmistakable. Easterner though I am, I would have loved that part of Lincoln's speech pattern to make it into the movie. It remains a powerful and yet very "human" performance; DDL deserved the Oscar.
This is one of the best representations of the anguish that Lincoln had to go through to hold the country together and forge a new future for America. . Thank you again for such good content, and allowing me to see this film through your eyes.
I felt that this was the very first time I actually met President Lincoln since a child in school, and the entire time with my mouth wide open. Astonishing.
After viewing "Lincoln," I found it difficult in my brain to snap back to reality, to remember what I'd just seen was not news video coverage of Lincoln, that this was a group of actors. I've read extensively on Lincoln and the Civil War; all that prior knowledge seemingly got paraded in front of me as something NOW, REAL, not an act. A wonderful presentation by true artists.
From the first moments of this film to the final moments you saw Abraham Lincoln. You Never Saw Daniel Day Lewis. .... That is acting at it's very best.
Cassie, this may be your best reaction, or at least top 3. You handled this 'perfectly' there was so to this that had to be heard, you stayed quiet and came in at just the right times and were spot on with what you said helping me to understand it better. Then the acting in this was impeccable, from Lewis down to the boy who played his youngest. The editing was perfect as well.
I'm so glad you reacted to this. It's an excellent film. While a lot has been said, quite accurately, about the great writing and acting in the film, the technical aspects are equally impressive. The sound designers went to great lengths to make sure all of the ambient sound effects were as accurate as possible. They recorded the sound of one of Lincoln's pocket watches ticking at the Lincoln Presidential Library to dub over the watch Daniel Day-Lewis carries in the film. And they were given special access to the White House to record sounds of some of the fixtures that date from Lincoln's time, including clocks and door latches.
Spielberg made it with a masterpiece acting from DDL... That gave him the 3th oscar of best actor, the only one to have three!... Extraordinary performance that defies what it means to portray someone... For that matter one such has Lincoln for what he stands... It need it to be perfect and Daniel Day Lewis made it so!... Perfect memorable acting that grabs the audience!
DDL broke in to the business with his unbelievable performance in My Left Foot. He was so convincing as Christy Brown (I can’t remember what affliction he had but basically he was only able to move his left foot) that many people thought he was in fact a disabled actor. Needless to say there were a number of shocked people when this good looking tall hunk strode up to collect his Oscar.
If you're ever in Washington DC, check out the Ford's Theater museum. One of the exhibits featured is a pillow that was placed under Lincoln's head as he lay dying. It's still stained with his blood.
This is just terrific film making; the costumes, the production, and of course the amazing acting. Steven Spielberg effortlessly transported us back in time and told us a good story. This movie was an instant classic when I saw it in theaters and remains today one of my favorite films of all time.
Sally Field is such an amazing actress. If you'd like to see some of her finest work, I highly recommend her two Oscar-winning performances, Norma Rae and Places in the Heart. Thank you for your great reactions!
A quiet little heartbreaking detail of the assassination was depicted here in one of the final scenes, the view of Lincoln in the bed at the boarding house across from the theater. Notice how his feet are at the foot of the bed and his knees are bent and off to the side. This is accurate: Lincoln was 6'4" (193 cm), and the bed was too short for him to lie straight. One final indignity....
This is one of the greatest historical films ever made. I remember being in the theater and thinking I wasn’t watching a movie I was watching a portal through time
Ulyses S Grant started out as a very talented military general during the Civil War but eventually became President. He became president in 1869 after Andrew Johnson, who had become President when Lincoln was assassinated. Johnson inherited the post due to circumstances whereas Grant was actually elected.
Sorry that you are sick Cassie. I hope you feel better soon. Now about the movie, a little fact that you may not know, Lincoln is buried under 10 feet of concrete, because there was plots to steal his body. Another fun fact, that before Lincoln was assassinated, he had a dream that he woke up and asked who was dead in the White House. In my opinion that was a prophetic dream he had, because not long after he was shot and killed. Rumor has it that Lincoln's ghost still roams the halls of the White House, if you believe in ghosts. Another fact about Lincoln, is that Mary Todd Lincoln was distraught when they lost their first son. But Abe Lincoln kept her from going insane with grief. When Lincoln was assassinated Mary Todd hated what was happening. Many would say that she went insane, but still others would say that she didn't. Willie died long before the war started. Willie was only 11 years old when he died. Edit: In my opinion, Lincoln was a people's President. Yes, the war waged during his Presidency, but he also put the states back together when the war ended, and it ended with complete peace, and he did many great things for this country that he will be remembered for.
All the books say Abraham Lincoln was a prankster, and loved practical jokes. This is probably the movie that showed that part of him the best. So many movies show him as being stoic all the time.
Yes! You are the only one who is watching this movie! Abraham Lincoln remains, in my opinion, America's greatest president. I noticed one thing you mentioned several times during the movie. Unlike the parliamentary governments, like the UK or Canada, the president is not a member of the legislature. The US president cannot just go to congress and make speeches or compel them to do something. That would be a breach of the checks and balances our government has. He has to be formally invited to come to congress to speak, which is why every year we Americans get a news article saying the president has been formally invited to give his state of the union address.
I agree. I also think he was the greatest President. He did so much for this country, and when he heard that the south lost, he didn't jump up and cheer.
If you watched Ken Burns's Civil War documentary series you will remember Shelby Foote talking to a descendant of the Confederate officer (and founder of the Ku Klux Klan) Nathan Bedford Forrest and he said he thought the war produced two authentic geniuses. Nathan Forrest and Abraham Lincoln. Foote had this great southern drawl that you need to imagine this next line being said in to get the feel: "There was a long silence on the other end of the phone and she said 'We never did think too much of Mr. Lincoln in this house." To me there is no doubt he was the greatest president and one of the greatest heads of any nation in history. But even in the late 20th century there clearly were many Americans who still did not think so.
In crucial times, The United States has been blessed with extraordinary men who accomplished what should have been impossible. Our founding fathers were such men, and so was Abraham Lincoln. As you pointed out, without him things would have turned out so differently, and not for the better. It was a miracle our country came to be at all in the way it did, and also that it survived the Civil War.
*Cassie I have 3 suggestions for you (as if I've never before)* *The first is "The Wind and the Lion" (1973) - Sean Connery, Candace Bergen, Brian Keith* *AWESOME MOVIE!* *The second is perfect for the 4th of July - "1776" - (1972) an awesome musical play about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Very funny and thought provoking. William Daniels, Ken Howard, Blythe Danner* *Third - "TORA! TORA! TORA!" - (1970) Fact based drama of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - December 7th, 1941. WAY Better than the movie "Pearl Harbor"*
I am a combat veteran and you are a new American. Our country is so torn apart right now. I don't know what your politics is now or do I care . This movie reminded me how important it is that we respect each others beliefs and try our best to love each other. I know what death looks like and I'm afraid of what might happen if we don't try harder to get along. Thank you for this and God bless you.
2:49 What a pleasant surprise! I didn’t know Colman Domingo was in this! He was just recently one of the Oscar nominees for Best Actor, for his performance as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in the film RUSTIN (2023). And here we see him with Daniel Day-Lewis….what a wonderful career he’s had so far.
THANK YOU! Thank you so much for watching this movie, going against the grain. I teared up during so many situations from the speeches to the vote tallying. Lol. Lincoln is a must see for the acting, the historical implications. ❤
Thank you so much for watching this one. This is quite possibly my favorite movie ever. Lincoln is my favorite President, and this movie further confirmed it.
Great commentary and observations on a complex film. It's a film that's not for everyone, but you really got it. Daniel Day was Lincoln. Amazing history lesson.
Speaking of Mr. Day-Lewis- I just saw The Age of Innocence in a theater the other day and it’s an exquisite period drama with a heck of a love story so please put it on your radar
I am a Civil War fanatic That was Lincoln.When I saw this movie I felt it was like Daniel Day-Lewis had processed everything on those pages of all those books I had read and put it on the screen as Lincoln. Thos was movie based on the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin which won the Pulitzer Prize. A very good book. I can't imagine anyone doing a better job, Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing
This is the closest we will ever get to actually seeing a home video of Lincoln, all historians pretty much agree this is almost perfection of a portrayal. From his voice to mannerisms. A+
Oh my, oh my, oh my Gosh! Cassie, I could write a ten page letter about how much I appreciate this reaction from you. To keep it short and sweet, I remember discovering your channel when you had only reviewed 20 films or so. You were so innocent and sweet in admitting your bias for Rom-com chick flicks. Yet there you were letting us see you steel yourself long ago with films like Schindler's List and the like early on. Your quest for Middle Earth was so epic. I think I remember you bemoaning, "why didn't any one tell me how good these movies are?" Cassie, we have watched you mature and today I can say, you have reached a pinnacle. You have outdone yourself. I have not enough Thanks to give you for letting us come on this journey with you. From thousands of subs to hundreds of thousands...I am so proud of you and I say again, you have reached a pinnacle here. 27:10 for example. Thank You for making the world better through your honest glowing character that is so self evident. I am so happy you are my neighbor. Greeting from SLC
The problem was that there were actually a couple of states on the northern side where slavery was still legal (which is why the emancipation proclamation only applied in rebel states) , and a number of elected representatives and senators in the north who were racist and some who didnt want to free black slaves. So if they had a choice between peace with slavery or war many of them would have chosen peace, leaving slavery - which is what started the war on lincoln’s first election, because he was seen as an abolitionist - in place. Thats the slippery bridge lincoln was trying to get across in 1865. While Stephen’s housekeeper - who was referred to as Mrs Stephens by many, although they never formally married - was half black, she actually looked white. Her sons, by her first marriage, looked black. Lincoln was famous for his anecdotes. Many of the members of his cabinet had actually been his opponents in various ways before the war - he was a superb politician. He also secretly owned a german language newspaper which he used to ensure he had the votes of the german immigrant population. He was a very clever man. Ive never seen that ending before. In the ending ive seen lincoln puts on his gloves and slowly heads off to the theatre where he was shot.
This film shows so much of what was happening in his personal life and I'm glad for it. He went through so much during his time as president, enough that could have broken anyone else, but he was able to pull through and, while he didn't see the full ratification of the 13th Amendment, was able to get the work done so it would be. In my opinion, Lincoln's assassination caused irreparable damage to the United States that we're still trying to recover from.
I would disagree about is assassination directly doing damage. It is more so the fact that his assassination making Andrew Johnson president. And Andrew Johnson did irreparable damage
Get well soon. This channel has been brought nothing but happiness for me. So, thank you very much. I hope you can continue DDL journey. He's an amazing actor. Arguably, the majority of his movies just nothing but good
One of my favorites and largely true to the spirit of what happened. Lincoln was indeed known as a story teller (he honed his craft when he was a lawyer in Illinois) and was very funny. I'm glad Daniel Day-Lewis even got his awkward walk right. People said when Lincoln walked he sort of picked his whole foot off the ground and put it down at once unlike most of us where we roll heel to toe.
Someone at the time said Lincoln walked like his joints needed to be oiled. His muscles however, were very well defined and he was very strong. He kept an axe in the Oval Office that he often stretched out straight and held it without wavering for several minutes.
Lincolns death was a huge blow.not just for the people at that time but all those that came after. The Reconstruction would have been totally different had he lived. A lot of resentments of today originated in the time following his death. It was a huge blow to the United States and all its people.
Daniel Day-Lewis being his usual, phenomenal self, lol; of his three Oscar-winning roles my favorite is There Will Be Blood, but My Left Foot and Lincoln are obviously still sensational
There Will Be Blood is my second favorite movie of all time. Cannot tell you how many I’ve seen it and always pick up on something new. So fantastic!!!
What a WONDERFUL movie with a decent touch of accuracy, although don't mistake it for being historically precise. Daniel Day Lewis and his performance is absolutely stupendous and the filmmakers showcase Lincoln as a true human being: Imperfect, tall, lanky, walks funny with a nasal sounding voice who uses his ability to put words to good use and weave a story to accomplish his purpose: END SLAVERY. Thank you Spielberg, Thank you Daniel Day Lewis, Thank you Tommy Lee Jones. I can watch this movie over and over and over again. The movie was based on the 2005 biography Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln written by Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.
God I love this movie. I think it's Spielberg's best. There isn't a single performance in the lot that isn't astounding. I love how each of the main characters (and some minors) get a chance to monologue like a stage play, and they all just knock it out of the park in their own unique ways. I love the relationship and banter between DDL and Strathairn. I love the way DDL almost never loses his temper and manages to cajole people to his side, but when he loses it in that once scene with his 'clothed with immense power' it is just so captivating. And then there's Tommy Lee Jones... my god the nuance he plays is just fantastic. The small grin at Sally Field. The pained yet overwhelming joy he has at the end. I can watch this one over and over. One of the few movies I can do that with as an adult.
While not always easy to compare actors, this is an example of why Daniel Day Lewis is perhaps the greatest actor ever. It is a shame that he decided to retire.
One thing Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, "A Team of Rivals," drives home is Lincoln's ability to delay decisions and relaunch them at the most advantageous moment, exactly what he did with the southern "peace commissioners," shuffling them between various camps, etc., but never calling them to Washington. Thank you, Cassie, for doing your usual wonderful, understanding, job with this awesome movie!
Great reaction. This movie was very good. Daniel Day Lewis and all of the cast did amazing. My favorite Daniel Day Lewis movie is "In The Name Of The Father." It was so well acted and another great story based on true story. You'll need tissues for that one too.
Lincoln is not Spielberg's most rewatchable or his most memorable film but it's arguably his most intelligent and mature. I never would've picked him to helm something like this but the end result is remarkable. Look at Daniel Day Lewis in this vs him in Gangs of New York and tell me he isn't the best actor on the planet. You can't. I want him to unretire! 😢
@@MrAitraining I do agree they could've covered Lincoln's flaws more but the best biopics show nothing more than a significant moment in the subject's life. Lincoln leading the way to abolishing slavery will obviously be presented as a heroic tale.
I first watched this movie with my dad, who had read the nonfiction book it was based on. At the start of the movie he was giving additional facts and tidbits, but as it went on he and I both got so drawn in that we kind of forgot it was history we both knew, and just enjoyed it. It's a deft trick to make a movie compelling even when you know the ending, but this has the A-class talent to pull it off.
Daniel Day Lewis ..... I mean what can you even say about this man? He puts on such a performance i can only imagine what he was like in real life for all those months during filming.
Willie Lincoln died at the age of 11 years old in February of 1861 of typhoid fever. He was the second of their children to die. 11 years earlier their son Eddie died at the age of 3 years old of tuberculosis. Abe, his wife Mary, Eddie, Willie and Thomas "Tad" are all buried at the Lincoln Tomb in Springfield, Illinois. Tad passed at the age of 18. He was nicknamed Tad short for tadpole by his father because he was a squirmy hyperactive child.
He died in 1926, after a long career in business (President of the Pullman Company) and service as Secretary of War and later Ambassador to Great Britain.
Lincoln is pretty much one of my favourite movies, ever. Every performance in the movie is worthy of the word, "powerhouse", especially Sally Field. Daniel Day Lewis is without a doubt one of the greatest actors ever, one of my idols. If I could recommend a Daniel Day Lewis movie, I'd recommend In the Name of the Father. My first and probably my absolute favourite Daniel Day Lewis performance. A very high recommendation. Really happy that you reacted to this brilliant movie. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I am British, but this remains one of my favourite movies. DDL is just phenomenal as Lincoln and the union (No pun intended) of political intrigue with historical drama is just amazing. He makes Lincoln so real, with his stories and even his flaws. So glad you reacted to this!
no one reacts to Lincoln. Literally no one! thank you for watching this masterpiece Cassie.
Talk about one that SHOULD be reacted too. So important.
I agree. Sally Field is one of the best actresses on this planet. She FOUGHT for this role, and I’m so glad she did.
Agreed, glad to see this movie get some attention.
Interestingly, this has gotten a decent amount of reactor time. Surprising for a more "adult appeal" film.
I found at least a half dozen.
I met Daniel Day Lewis once I randomly around downtown in my city. I knew of his work and wanted to talk with him, but he was window shopping, and I didn't bother him before I even thought to say anything he walked over and asked about my boots which was a pair of older Red Wings. We talked about boots, leather, and the entire process of making boots, then complimented me on my maintenance. We talked about it so much that I forgot he was an actor. He was so inquisitive and soft-spoken, but every word was purposeful, didn't have a hint of any of his characters in his voice. I was starstruck, but before he went on with his day, I told him I appreciated his work. He smiled and said,"I love that, but I'm retired, and you have about another year before you need a resole. It was a plentiful conversation. Good day, sir."
That will be a conversation I will keep with me. I saw a glimpse of the man behind the roles. That's a rare thing.
What a great story, and a great meeting!
For people who may not be aware, Daniel Day Lewis retired from acting but continued to pursue his other avocation, which is cobbling (making shoes & boots).
@Johnny_Socko I found that out after the fact, but he was definitely knowledgeable. Just a kind person and attentive person.
He can also build a desk - he was working with wood when he got the script for My Left Foot 🤩
Anybody who talks like that has to be a great actor.
Thank you for sharing this...
Fun trivia. Robert Lincoln's life was saved by Edwin Booth when Robert slipped on a train and almost fell between two passenger cars. Edwin grabbed him by the jacket and was able to pull him back on his feet before he fell. Edwin Booth was John Wilkes Booth's brother.
More fun trivia, the Secret Service was created under Lincoln to fight counterfeiting of our currency. It wasn't until after his assassination that they were assigned to protect the President. Until then no President had ever been assassinated.
Didn't know that, that's pretty fascinating! Edwin Booth refused to allow the name of his brother spoken in his house following the assassination. A markedly different man.
Also, John Wilkes Booth and Robert Lincoln were both in love with the same woman (Lucy Hale), and the fact that Booth saw Lincoln as a rival for her affections may have partly fueled his anger toward President Lincoln.
Edwin Booth remarked later on that saving Robert's life and doing something good for the Lincoln family helped him cope a little better for the horrible thing his brother did.
You jerk. I just got done typing that. Lol
The great thing about Daniel Day-Lewis is that you can watch "Phantom Thread," "Gangs of New York," "My Left Foot," "In the Name of the Father," and "There Will be Blood," and "Lincoln" and think to yourself "I can't even believe it's the same guy."
A very talented CHAMELEON he is!
He is very selective and dedicated, but sometimes does too much hurt to himself for the roles, according to many.
True
last of the mohicans
Ulysses S Grant was played by Jared Harris, who also played Valery Lagosov in “Chernobyl”.
Jared Harris is great, as was Chernobyl (the show, not the disaster 🤦🏻♂️). Also, he’s the son of Richard Harris, the legendary British actor who Cassie knows as (the first) Professor Dumbledore. Richard Harris died after the 2nd Harry Potter movie was filmed & was replaced by Michael Gambon as Dumbledore.
@@jeffg.6110 I know who Richard Harris is. I did not know Jared is his son! Thanks for that!
@@jeffg.6110 Richard Harris was a proud Irishman from Limerick, his son Jared was born in England. Father and son, both great actors. Michael Gambon was also Irish, meaning Dumbledore must be Irish too!
Daniel Day Lewis' performance is exemplary. He just didn't act like Lincoln he was Lincoln.
@77tml He gave form to one of our most beloved heroes, and we are forever grateful.
DDL's portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in this movie was nothing short of miraculous. Positively riveting, from beginning to end, every word, every gesture, every emotion. I'm glad you experienced it, Cassie. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but DDL winning the Oscar for this role made him the first actor to win the Best Actor award a third time.
EDIT: Another movie starring DDL that few people mention, but is actually my favorite of his after this one, is The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), co-starring Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin. In this viewer's opinion, another masterpiece.
To think this is the same guy who gave us Bill Cutting...
Well, you grew up with Canadian history…but the United States has had a handful of incredible men serving as Presidents…most were mediocre…only a few shined..or were more than capable…some because they were…others because they picked good people to be part of their team…and, again, some served in times when the republic was in dire straits…war, depressions, natural disasters…
As President Obama showed us with his after 8 years…grey hair…the office of President can age you rather quickly because you are making critical decisions…that affect the entire world…
American kids out of college today…still have no grasp on their own history…or for that matter, geography..and forget spelling anything…those days are long gone…
What was his first big acting gig? Was that My Left Foot….?
Daniel Day-Lewis was superb, and give all credit to Tony Kushner for the screenplay. Stephen Spielberg filmed everything with natural lighting, and that makes the film seem so like something out of the nineteenth century. Filmmaking at its best.
Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't merely portray characters he is playing. He literally becomes them. One of the greatest actors of all time. Three time Best Actor Oscar winner.
The Native American fellow in General Grant's staff is Ely Parker, a Seneca. He rose to rank of Brigadier General during his service, and was later appointed as President Grant's Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
At Lee's surrender he looked at Gen Parker and said "At least there's one real American here." Parker replied "We're all Americans here general."
The last confederate general to surrender to the union was a native American Stand Watie of the Cherokee nation on June 23rd
@@jake5773 First quote, Lee said that or Grant?
@@SStupendous Lee
Absolutely brilliant film. Absolutely brilliant performances. Absolutely brilliant writing.
Daniel Day Lewis didn't portray Lincoln, he resurrected him.
I love this movie & this president. "John Adams" with Paul Giamatti is a remarkable miniseries on Max that illustrates what the founding fathers & their families went through to form this "more perfect union." Can't recommend it enough 😀
Love that Show!
So good. She's done some other HBO miniseries, hope she does that one some day, especially with the history kick she's been on lately. That scene where he's an old man viewing the painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence always hits me.
John Adams might be the best single mini-series ever filmed. Simply brilliant!! And it gets the story right because it is based on David McCullough's excellent book.
@MrWigglesWorth So true dude. The relationship with John & his wife is was what hit me. Reminds me of the quote, "Behind every great man is a better woman." And no joke... When I tell people about this show, I tell them about the painting scene you mentioned 🤝
I don’t know why, but my favorite scene is when Adams meets King George III as the United States’ first ambassador to Britain. It’s word-for-word what was said, and I thought they put a great spin on it.
Some fun history. Lincoln was always known for his humor and his long winded stories and parables. He was also a wrestler in his younger days and never lost. He would always accept a wrestling challenge even in his older years. He still never lost. On the House floor, insults were amazing. They were creative and sometimes very cruel. It, most of the time, kept them from physically fighting on the House floor. But not always. There were physical fights on the House floor. Some that sent congressmen to the hospital.
We need to bring that back.
Wasn't there a congressman that got caned on the floor and hurt badly? Not sure if that was in this time period or not.
Yes.
I've been to the capitol and they still proudly display the bullet holes made by members of congress.
In the old Carolina house they used to duel a lot. 2 men fought and one seemed to lose, got beaten pretty hard. Bystanders asked how it felt to lose. He chuckled and said,"I'm not sure he sees it that way." As he opened his hand and revealed the other guys left eyeball. Gouged it clean out over laws that got tossed when king George reconsolidated all the colonial charters.
@@ct6852 The Senator who was caned was named Charles Sumner, a member of the Free Soil Party in 1851. He represented the state of Massachusetts and was an ardent abolitionist. He was one of the founding members of the Republican Party and gave many a speech calling for the end of slavery. In May of 1856 he gave a powerful speech which so inflamed a Congressman from South Carolina, Preston Brooks, that Brooks almost beat him to death. There is some evidence it was not solely because of the speech's anti-slavery message but also because Sumner included a personal verbal attack on a cousin of Brooks, Senator Andrew Butler who also served the state of South Carolina. Sumner was physically unable to return to the Senate for three years, but he did eventually recover. While he was incapacitated, the voters of Massachusetts reelected Sumner anyway and his vacant chair in the Senate was a powerful symbol. He returned physically to the Senate in 1859. His attacker resigned his seat to allow for a special election to be held, in part to allow the voters to decide if he should remain in office. They reelected him...and reelected him again in the 1856 election, but he died in 1857, five weeks before he would have returned to the House of Representatives.
It's hard to comprehend that this movie came out 12 years ago. It still feels a lot more recent than that.
2012 isn't that long ago, that feels a lot more recent than 12 years back.
Hollywood (and American culture in general) peaked and stopped evolving in 2012, makes sense
In those days, the President was Inaugurated on March 4th, a full five months after the preceding elections in early November. It was Lincoln's first election to President in 1860 that kicked off the Southern Secession, so that by the time he was already sworn in, a full-blown Civil War had already begun. By no means was Lincoln an abolitionist early on-he advocated only stopping the spread of slavery to new western territories! However, that was enough for the South to see their Golden Goose as having a time limit now attached to it, so they bolted, and fired the first shots of the war at the Union Fort Sumter.
Lincoln rallied the nation behind a 'National Unity' coalition and by 1864, with his handpicked Vice President being a Democrat (most Democrats defected with the South, Lincoln was the first elected Republican, a newly formed political party). And he gave the Gettysburg Address after the famous battle, seemingly condemning the wretched institution of slavery (which is where this movie begins). BUT, his words and the subsequent Emancipation Proclamation, weren't worth the paper they were printed on. Slavery would still have been allowed in certain corners of the USA, unless it were abolished forever. And the only way to do that was by Constitutional Amendment!
Good sum up.
So his entire term as president has been with him dealing with a civil war? No wonder he looked so tired and drained in his photos.
I always thought that Abe having started as a Moderate only shows the effect that the South’s fuckeries had on Moderates like him. He started the war claiming “Preserve the Union above all” and ended the war with “FUCK THAT i’m gonna push the 13A thru even if I have to job-bribe Democrat congressmen.”
@Serenity113 pretty much. Fort Sumter was attacked just over a month after his first inauguration & Lee surrendered 5 days before Lincoln was shot
@@Serenity113 Lots of bitter jokes have been made about how he would not have lasted till 1869 anyways.
There are a lot of character nuances captured in this movie that are incredibly accurate to Lincoln in real Life. Daniel Day-Lewis' voice is accurate. A primary source, I think a soldier, once described his voice as high-pitched and reedy and Lewis captured that perfectly. And Lincoln was said to be incredibly long-winded. His telling the story about Ethan Allen and the English Nobleman really happened.
yeah I liked that bit of accuracy. Actors tend to portray Lincoln as having this deep, booming voice and a towering, commanding, charismatic presence... but contemporary descriptions of him are not like that at all. They're all much closer to what we see here... folksy, loves telling stories, with a very healthy (and a bit dirty) sense of humor... weighed down by the stress of his position and the pressures of his office during this, the most harrowing of times in our nation's history... he almost succumbed to it all... and then, also, what you said about his voice.
@@nooneofconsequence1251 Also, the Gettysburg Address was nowhere NEAR as impressive to its first audience as you might think. Lincoln's speech followed the speech of Edward Everett, a great orator of the day, who talked for a long time. By contrast, the Address was only twelve minutes long or so. There was silence when he finished, and as he sat down, he remarked to the man next to him, "Well, that wowed 'em, didn't it?" It only became a masterful piece of American oratory later, much after the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield, which was the reason Lincoln was there in Gettysburg in the first place.
I think the voice is the most striking thing that makes Lewis' Lincoln feel real. Lincoln is so often played with a deep voice that it just feels... like lifting the veil of history.
Lincoln wasnt ‘long winded’. It was standard at the time for speeches to go on for hours. In fact, there were professional speakers who were paid to make speeches that went for hours, and they attracted very big audiences. A number of Lincoln’s political opponents were men who became wealthy making such speeches. It was not normal for anyone to campaign for the residency at the time - in fact it was considered very low class to campaign for the presidency - but thats what lincoln did when he engaged the democratic senator, stephen douglas, in a series of public debates. Those debates made lincoln famous, partly because Douglas was a professional speaker and droned on for hours and lincoln didnt. Lincoln actually mocked douglas for the length of his speeches. As a result, lincoln honed a new style of shorter speeches. And the gettysburg address was initially condemned by ALL the newspapers for how short it was. It took a little while for them to change that view after they realised how popular it was.
The male aide asking him if he needs "comfort" was not lost on me. I have no idea if those rumors are true or not but the notion has come into fashion these days among historians. Anyways I noticed they slipped that in there.
The cast of this film was truly insane.
goya - When actors of this caliber see the script and the other actors already aboard, their answer is .. "YES!!"
I'm not one who usually comments, but as a student of Civil War history, I want you to know I enjoyed your observations while watching this masterpiece. For someone who didn't grow up learning about Lincoln from the time they were in grade school through college, you connected with this film. Some other great Civil War dramas are Glory, and Gettysburg. Or, the classic Gone With the Wind tells a romanticized version of life in the South before, during, and after the war. It's also a classic love story. Keep watching. I will, too. Cheers!
Gone With the Wind is straight up Lost Cause propaganda.
It is. So is Birth of a Nation. But both are still important pieces of film literature.
@@Marc_Fredrick True, but it's best to view both with that in mind.
Lost Cause is a myth created by certain people with agendas.@@benn454
She watched Glory already
One amongst the many things that I love about Abraham Lincoln is his writing.
Before the days of spin and teams of speech writers (correct me if I'm wrong) he wrote his own speeches. I have an old book of his letters and it's something he doesn't get enough praise for.
His letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston referenced in Saving Private Ryan is one of the greatest pieces of writing ever.
Abraham Lincoln was one of the reasons why I'm studying to be a historian in college.
There is an amazing book called Team of Rivals that shows Lincoln's profound impact on even his greatest rivals for the presidency, who he persuaded to become his cabinet. They became fervently loyal to him
Am reading that now. Lonnnnng but worth it.
IIRC this movie was largely based on that book.
Hal Holbrook, who played Preston Blair in this movie, was also in All the President's Men, where he played "Deep Throat."
and in 1974-76 Hal Holbrook played Abraham Lincoln in a TV miniseries.
@@stvdagger8074Holbrook also played Lincoln in the "North and South" miniseries in the mid 80s.
Hal Holbrook was well-known for his one-man show playing Mark Twain, which I saw once. Cassie might enjoy that; I think there is probably a recorded version for PBS.
@@bjgentryHe also played John Adams in a George Washington miniseries in 1984. It’s still up on CZcams if anyone wants to watch it. It’s really good.
I am German, Mr. A. Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents that ever existed and will ever exist. When I stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial, stately monument in Washington, I was literally paralyzed. I had a feeling he was about to rise. I'm not easily impressed, but A. Lincoln manages to do it every time.
We desperately needed a person like Mr. A. Lincoln in the March 5, 1933 election. He could have democratically stopped the beasts that were getting ready to make their "appearance."
He and the Roosevelts were, in my opinion. . . The best 3 presidents we have ever had. For the people, just, men of integrity, and men of the highest caliber. They should be the standard if we are ever to live up to our ideals
Absolutely!
@@Strider91 I would absolutely agree with you on that.
@@Strider91 Without Washington, there is no Lincoln, or for that matter, a country.
Lincoln wasn't a fan of democracy, but he sure liked suspending civil rights and implementing martial law
Cassie, you may not realize this being Canadian, but at least when I was growing up (not sure about today), Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was a required memorization exercise in school (as in, stand before the class and recite it from memory). Every time I see this movie, I find myself murmuring the words along with the soldiers at the beginning. Seeing them quote his cemetery dedication back to him just before going off to their own possible demise, because they were just that uplifted by its timeless ideals, never fails to moisten my eyes.
A short speech at some 272 words, Lincoln spoke for only a couple of minutes, as compared with another notable speaker that day, Edward Everett, whose own speech took 2 hours. Everett later wrote Lincoln that, “I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours, as you did in two minutes.”
Reminds me of that scene from Kindergarten Cop.
Historians lament at the speech's brevity; there's only 1, maybe 2, photographs taken of the event. Lincoln's address was so short, period photographers weren't able to set up their equipment quickly enough!
This is an incredibly accurate portrait of Lincoln, and so much of his dialogue is taken from letters, recorded meetings, anecdotes of people who knew him and heard so many stories and sayings and not entirely appropriate jokes. And I love that Tony Kushner also included so many nods to Lincoln's love of Shakespeare, most of which (like the Bible) he knew by heart. He would recite them, in character, when he rafted down the Mississippi, with the rails that he split before he became a postmaster and then a lawyer. I think it was the photographer Matthew Brady, who was privileged to hear several soliloquies while he was setting up his camera for official portraits, who said that the President could have been a truly great actor. He only had three years of elementary education as a child, but he taught himself Latin, Spanish, calculus. Among our Presidents, he ranks with Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt as a true polymathic genius (and he shared a birthday with Charles Darwin, another genius responsible in so many ways for the world we live in).
By extending "Presidents Week", you've saved the best for last. This film does an excellent job of showing how politically shrewd Lincoln was. And that's important, because passion is rarely enough.
Thank you so much for this reaction.
I still have a $50 Union Dollar that was my grandfather's great-grandfather's. My aunt recently sold a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation that Lincoln signed that's been in the family since the end of the Civil War.
In 2005 my high school class took a week-long trip to Washington D.C. I was able to go into Ford's theater and stand just a few feet away from where Abraham Lincoln was shot. It was a surreal experience.
Yeah that would be really strange to be there. Do they still use it for performances?
Did you know that Booth was only at Ford's Theater that morning because he was picking up his mail? It was there that Ford's brother bragged to him that Lincoln would be attending the theater that night. Imagine how different history would be if Booth had decided not to pick up his mail that morning.
@@tremorsfan I thought Booth was in the play that night?
@@ct6852 No. He snuck into the audience and up to the box where Lincoln was watching a performance of OUR AMERICAN COUSIN. The guard who was supposed to be at his post wasn't there, and Booth had an easy shot. When he'd finished shooting Lincoln, he jumped dramatically over the balcony, landing on the stage, raised his knife in the air and shouted, "Sic semper tyrannis!" (Thus always with tyrants) He was an actor; he had to make a big gesture. That jump broke his ankle and made his flight from Washington very painful.
@@ct6852 He had done the play previously but he wasn't in that performance. He actually timed his shot to coincide with the line that would get the biggest laugh.
As a companion piece to this you may like to watch "The Conspirator" as I know you like courtroom dramas. It's the story of the trial of Mary Surratt, mother of one of the Lincoln conspirators. Many people aren't aware that Lincoln wasn't the only one attacked that night and that it was part of an organised plot. The film is directed by Robert Redford and stars James McAvoy and Robin Wright (Jenny from Forrest Gump).
It's true. The conspirators intended to assassinate Seward and the Vice President Johnson as well as General Grant. Grant had left Washington and was out of the way, the conspirator who was to attack Johnson got drunk and did not attempt it. Seward was violently attacked, stabbed several times and almost died.
Steven Spielberg at his absolute best, and Daniel Day-Lewis once again proving why he's the most acclaimed actor of all time.
Some commenters have noted that part of the greatness of Day Lewis's performance (which was great; I agree) is that he got Lincoln's voice right: it was, contemporaries said, fairly high-pitched and reedy, and DDL did, indeed, nail that part of it.
He only hints at Lincoln's accent, though: Lincoln was born in Kentucky and grew up in southern Indiana; he had an "upper South" accent all his life. When his debates with Stephen Douglas gave him his first national fame (they were reprinted in newspapers across the country), he was invited to New York City and gave the Cooper Union Address -- the first chance the home plate of the still-new Republican Party had to hear and see in person this "prairie lawyer." The chairman of the party introduced him to the crowd, so Lincoln's first word were to thank him for the introduction and thank those who were there. Many accounts noted that his first two words, "Mr. Chairman," sounded like "Mr. Cheerman . . ." Lincoln had a "twang" to his voice -- not overpowering or distracting, but distinct and unmistakable. Easterner though I am, I would have loved that part of Lincoln's speech pattern to make it into the movie. It remains a powerful and yet very "human" performance; DDL deserved the Oscar.
This is one of the best representations of the anguish that Lincoln had to go through to hold the country together and forge a new future for America. . Thank you again for such good content, and allowing me to see this film through your eyes.
I felt that this was the very first time I actually met President Lincoln since a child in school, and the entire time with my mouth wide open. Astonishing.
After viewing "Lincoln," I found it difficult in my brain to snap back to reality, to remember what I'd just seen was not news video coverage of Lincoln, that this was a group of actors. I've read extensively on Lincoln and the Civil War; all that prior knowledge seemingly got paraded in front of me as something NOW, REAL, not an act. A wonderful presentation by true artists.
From the first moments of this film to the final moments you saw Abraham Lincoln. You Never Saw Daniel Day Lewis. .... That is acting at it's very best.
Nope, that's definitely still Danny playing Lincoln.
Cassie, this may be your best reaction, or at least top 3. You handled this 'perfectly' there was so to this that had to be heard, you stayed quiet and came in at just the right times and were spot on with what you said helping me to understand it better. Then the acting in this was impeccable, from Lewis down to the boy who played his youngest. The editing was perfect as well.
Daniel Day Lewis is Lincoln. His portrayal is beyond brilliant.
I'm so glad you reacted to this. It's an excellent film. While a lot has been said, quite accurately, about the great writing and acting in the film, the technical aspects are equally impressive. The sound designers went to great lengths to make sure all of the ambient sound effects were as accurate as possible. They recorded the sound of one of Lincoln's pocket watches ticking at the Lincoln Presidential Library to dub over the watch Daniel Day-Lewis carries in the film. And they were given special access to the White House to record sounds of some of the fixtures that date from Lincoln's time, including clocks and door latches.
Cass that was a terrific reaction especially your wonderful comments at the end!!! He was an amazing man and an amazing person!!
Spielberg made it with a masterpiece acting from DDL... That gave him the 3th oscar of best actor, the only one to have three!... Extraordinary performance that defies what it means to portray someone... For that matter one such has Lincoln for what he stands... It need it to be perfect and Daniel Day Lewis made it so!... Perfect memorable acting that grabs the audience!
DDL broke in to the business with his unbelievable performance in My Left Foot. He was so convincing as Christy Brown (I can’t remember what affliction he had but basically he was only able to move his left foot) that many people thought he was in fact a disabled actor. Needless to say there were a number of shocked people when this good looking tall hunk strode up to collect his Oscar.
I was one of them.🤣
Thank you for sharing not only your reactions to the movies, but your kind soul. It shows through in every review.
Aw thank you so much for the kind words ❤️
Love to see you naming so many of the cast as they appear! And it is certainly a cast
If you're ever in Washington DC, check out the Ford's Theater museum. One of the exhibits featured is a pillow that was placed under Lincoln's head as he lay dying. It's still stained with his blood.
This is just terrific film making; the costumes, the production, and of course the amazing acting. Steven Spielberg effortlessly transported us back in time and told us a good story. This movie was an instant classic when I saw it in theaters and remains today one of my favorite films of all time.
For more 19 century shown by Spielberg, *please* watch "Amistad"!
A fantastic film. One of Steven Spielberg’s best.
Yes, if you are interested in history, you have picked a fantastic movie
Maybe for Black History Month next year.
That one dipped into the hypocrisy of half the LAND OF DA FREE still having chattel slavery even more than this one this.
33:27 bless his heart. Sally Field is doing a phenomenal job as well as Daniel.
Sally Field is such an amazing actress. If you'd like to see some of her finest work, I highly recommend her two Oscar-winning performances, Norma Rae and Places in the Heart. Thank you for your great reactions!
@hobbievk5119
I love Places In The Heart! One of my all time favorites. So glad you mentioned it, not many people ever do. :)
A quiet little heartbreaking detail of the assassination was depicted here in one of the final scenes, the view of Lincoln in the bed at the boarding house across from the theater. Notice how his feet are at the foot of the bed and his knees are bent and off to the side. This is accurate: Lincoln was 6'4" (193 cm), and the bed was too short for him to lie straight. One final indignity....
Well, indignity... Lincoln was very tall for the time and always had to have beds made to order for them to fit.
This is one of the greatest historical films ever made. I remember being in the theater and thinking I wasn’t watching a movie
I was watching a portal through time
I dont see how that could be true watching Dane DeHaan on the screen.
looking for that Read More.
Not really, remember it is a movie not a documentary and was not all that historically accurate.
I can’t imagine any representation of Lincoln coming closer to what Daniel Day Lewis portrayed here.
Ulyses S Grant started out as a very talented military general during the Civil War but eventually became President. He became president in 1869 after Andrew Johnson, who had become President when Lincoln was assassinated. Johnson inherited the post due to circumstances whereas Grant was actually elected.
Sorry that you are sick Cassie. I hope you feel better soon. Now about the movie, a little fact that you may not know, Lincoln is buried under 10 feet of concrete, because there was plots to steal his body. Another fun fact, that before Lincoln was assassinated, he had a dream that he woke up and asked who was dead in the White House. In my opinion that was a prophetic dream he had, because not long after he was shot and killed. Rumor has it that Lincoln's ghost still roams the halls of the White House, if you believe in ghosts. Another fact about Lincoln, is that Mary Todd Lincoln was distraught when they lost their first son. But Abe Lincoln kept her from going insane with grief. When Lincoln was assassinated Mary Todd hated what was happening. Many would say that she went insane, but still others would say that she didn't. Willie died long before the war started. Willie was only 11 years old when he died.
Edit: In my opinion, Lincoln was a people's President. Yes, the war waged during his Presidency, but he also put the states back together when the war ended, and it ended with complete peace, and he did many great things for this country that he will be remembered for.
There wasn't complete peace for the blacks.
@@MorrisB3since Lincoln assatination
All the books say Abraham Lincoln was a prankster, and loved practical jokes.
This is probably the movie that showed that part of him the best. So many movies show him as being stoic all the time.
Glad she finally got around to this one.
It's a pleasure to share great movies with you! Daniel Day Lewis is in a class of his own.
Lewis reminds me a lot of Henry Fonda.
"I know all these guys!"
Lincoln is a parade of our favorite guys, it rules!
Spielberg’s clout and the project’s clout, no doubt!
Yes! You are the only one who is watching this movie! Abraham Lincoln remains, in my opinion, America's greatest president.
I noticed one thing you mentioned several times during the movie. Unlike the parliamentary governments, like the UK or Canada, the president is not a member of the legislature. The US president cannot just go to congress and make speeches or compel them to do something. That would be a breach of the checks and balances our government has. He has to be formally invited to come to congress to speak, which is why every year we Americans get a news article saying the president has been formally invited to give his state of the union address.
I agree. I also think he was the greatest President. He did so much for this country, and when he heard that the south lost, he didn't jump up and cheer.
Dawn Marie watched it awhile ago. There may be more reactions, if you search. It may not be the most popular reaction movie, though.
If you watched Ken Burns's Civil War documentary series you will remember Shelby Foote talking to a descendant of the Confederate officer (and founder of the Ku Klux Klan) Nathan Bedford Forrest and he said he thought the war produced two authentic geniuses. Nathan Forrest and Abraham Lincoln. Foote had this great southern drawl that you need to imagine this next line being said in to get the feel: "There was a long silence on the other end of the phone and she said 'We never did think too much of Mr. Lincoln in this house."
To me there is no doubt he was the greatest president and one of the greatest heads of any nation in history. But even in the late 20th century there clearly were many Americans who still did not think so.
@@evilpenguinmasNathan Bedford Forrest was definitely not a genius tho
@@airsoftpopcorn That was Shelby Foote, not me!
I still recall Lincoln's intensely personal conversation with his dear wife! I almost feel intrusive! It's that immersion!
In crucial times, The United States has been blessed with extraordinary men who accomplished what should have been impossible. Our founding fathers were such men, and so was Abraham Lincoln. As you pointed out, without him things would have turned out so differently, and not for the better. It was a miracle our country came to be at all in the way it did, and also that it survived the Civil War.
*Cassie I have 3 suggestions for you (as if I've never before)*
*The first is "The Wind and the Lion" (1973) - Sean Connery, Candace Bergen, Brian Keith*
*AWESOME MOVIE!*
*The second is perfect for the 4th of July - "1776" - (1972) an awesome musical play about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Very funny and thought provoking. William Daniels, Ken Howard, Blythe Danner*
*Third - "TORA! TORA! TORA!" - (1970) Fact based drama of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - December 7th, 1941. WAY Better than the movie "Pearl Harbor"*
Wonder if she has seen Amistad yet.
I am a combat veteran and you are a new American. Our country is so torn apart right now. I don't know what your politics is now or do I care . This movie reminded me how important it is that we respect each others beliefs and try our best to love each other. I know what death looks like and I'm afraid of what might happen if we don't try harder to get along. Thank you for this and God bless you.
Well said. Totally agree. Both sides need to learn to communicate better and keep the big picture in mind.
Now he belongs to the ages.
2:49 What a pleasant surprise! I didn’t know Colman Domingo was in this! He was just recently one of the Oscar nominees for Best Actor, for his performance as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in the film RUSTIN (2023). And here we see him with Daniel Day-Lewis….what a wonderful career he’s had so far.
THANK YOU! Thank you so much for watching this movie, going against the grain. I teared up during so many situations from the speeches to the vote tallying. Lol. Lincoln is a must see for the acting, the historical implications. ❤
Thank you so much for watching this one. This is quite possibly my favorite movie ever. Lincoln is my favorite President, and this movie further confirmed it.
Great commentary and observations on a complex film. It's a film that's not for everyone, but you really got it. Daniel Day was Lincoln. Amazing history lesson.
Speaking of Mr. Day-Lewis- I just saw The Age of Innocence in a theater the other day and it’s an exquisite period drama with a heck of a love story so please put it on your radar
YES!!! It's one of my absolute favorite movies. Its perfect. ❤❤❤
I am a Civil War fanatic That was Lincoln.When I saw this movie I felt it was like Daniel Day-Lewis had processed everything on those pages of all those books I had read and put it on the screen as Lincoln. Thos was movie based on the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin which won the Pulitzer Prize. A very good book. I can't imagine anyone doing a better job, Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing
DDL is Lincoln in my mind, just like Martin Sheen is R E Lee
This is the closest we will ever get to actually seeing a home video of Lincoln, all historians pretty much agree this is almost perfection of a portrayal. From his voice to mannerisms. A+
Oh my, oh my, oh my Gosh!
Cassie, I could write a ten page letter about how much I appreciate this reaction from you.
To keep it short and sweet, I remember discovering your channel when you had only reviewed 20 films or so. You were so innocent and sweet in admitting your bias for Rom-com chick flicks. Yet there you were letting us see you steel yourself long ago with films like Schindler's List and the like early on. Your quest for Middle Earth was so epic. I think I remember you bemoaning, "why didn't any one tell me how good these movies are?"
Cassie, we have watched you mature and today I can say, you have reached a pinnacle. You have outdone yourself. I have not enough Thanks to give you for letting us come on this journey with you. From thousands of subs to hundreds of thousands...I am so proud of you and I say again, you have reached a pinnacle here.
27:10 for example.
Thank You for making the world better through your honest glowing character that is so self evident. I am so happy you are my neighbor.
Greeting from SLC
The problem was that there were actually a couple of states on the northern side where slavery was still legal (which is why the emancipation proclamation only applied in rebel states) , and a number of elected representatives and senators in the north who were racist and some who didnt want to free black slaves. So if they had a choice between peace with slavery or war many of them would have chosen peace, leaving slavery - which is what started the war on lincoln’s first election, because he was seen as an abolitionist - in place. Thats the slippery bridge lincoln was trying to get across in 1865.
While Stephen’s housekeeper - who was referred to as Mrs Stephens by many, although they never formally married - was half black, she actually looked white. Her sons, by her first marriage, looked black.
Lincoln was famous for his anecdotes. Many of the members of his cabinet had actually been his opponents in various ways before the war - he was a superb politician. He also secretly owned a german language newspaper which he used to ensure he had the votes of the german immigrant population. He was a very clever man.
Ive never seen that ending before. In the ending ive seen lincoln puts on his gloves and slowly heads off to the theatre where he was shot.
Me too. That was a different ending from what I saw in the theatre
This film shows so much of what was happening in his personal life and I'm glad for it. He went through so much during his time as president, enough that could have broken anyone else, but he was able to pull through and, while he didn't see the full ratification of the 13th Amendment, was able to get the work done so it would be.
In my opinion, Lincoln's assassination caused irreparable damage to the United States that we're still trying to recover from.
I would disagree about is assassination directly doing damage. It is more so the fact that his assassination making Andrew Johnson president. And Andrew Johnson did irreparable damage
Though, that is just semantics
@@airsoftpopcorn agreed
Get well soon. This channel has been brought nothing but happiness for me. So, thank you very much. I hope you can continue DDL journey. He's an amazing actor. Arguably, the majority of his movies just nothing but good
I love your earnest and emotionally honest engagement with stories like this one. I hope you can keep that enviable quality.
One of my favorites and largely true to the spirit of what happened. Lincoln was indeed known as a story teller (he honed his craft when he was a lawyer in Illinois) and was very funny. I'm glad Daniel Day-Lewis even got his awkward walk right. People said when Lincoln walked he sort of picked his whole foot off the ground and put it down at once unlike most of us where we roll heel to toe.
Someone at the time said Lincoln walked like his joints needed to be oiled. His muscles however, were very well defined and he was very strong. He kept an axe in the Oval Office that he often stretched out straight and held it without wavering for several minutes.
Lincolns death was a huge blow.not just for the people at that time but all those that came after. The Reconstruction would have been totally different had he lived. A lot of resentments of today originated in the time following his death. It was a huge blow to the United States and all its people.
Daniel Day-Lewis being his usual, phenomenal self, lol; of his three Oscar-winning roles my favorite is There Will Be Blood, but My Left Foot and Lincoln are obviously still sensational
Agree: DD-L is really incredible, especially in My Left Foot.
There Will Be Blood is my second favorite movie of all time. Cannot tell you how many I’ve seen it and always pick up on something new. So fantastic!!!
How many remember Mr Day-Lewis in A Room With a View?
Lincoln was/is the tallest President at 6'5"🎩
Daniel Day Lewis is phenomenal in this movie. Have you watched “ Last of the Mohicans” yet? My favorite movie of his!
What a WONDERFUL movie with a decent touch of accuracy, although don't mistake it for being historically precise. Daniel Day Lewis and his performance is absolutely stupendous and the filmmakers showcase Lincoln as a true human being: Imperfect, tall, lanky, walks funny with a nasal sounding voice who uses his ability to put words to good use and weave a story to accomplish his purpose: END SLAVERY. Thank you Spielberg, Thank you Daniel Day Lewis, Thank you Tommy Lee Jones. I can watch this movie over and over and over again. The movie was based on the 2005 biography Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln written by Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Abraham Lincoln's voice was described as thin and wispy. That's how Daniel Day-Lewis sounded as Lincoln.
It's not cheesey at all. You've come to understand and appreciate the gift of performance and story telling. It puts you in the moment.
gotta watch Amistad it has Anthony Hopkins as John Quincy Adams.
God I love this movie. I think it's Spielberg's best. There isn't a single performance in the lot that isn't astounding. I love how each of the main characters (and some minors) get a chance to monologue like a stage play, and they all just knock it out of the park in their own unique ways. I love the relationship and banter between DDL and Strathairn. I love the way DDL almost never loses his temper and manages to cajole people to his side, but when he loses it in that once scene with his 'clothed with immense power' it is just so captivating.
And then there's Tommy Lee Jones... my god the nuance he plays is just fantastic. The small grin at Sally Field. The pained yet overwhelming joy he has at the end.
I can watch this one over and over. One of the few movies I can do that with as an adult.
Literally one of my fav movies ever. Love that you reacted to this one. Yes it’s a bit slow but getting invested in the history makes it great.
While not always easy to compare actors, this is an example of why Daniel Day Lewis is perhaps the greatest actor ever. It is a shame that he decided to retire.
Daniel Day-Lewis' portrayal of Lincoln had to be the most incredible acting I have ever seen onscreen!
One thing Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, "A Team of Rivals," drives home is Lincoln's ability to delay decisions and relaunch them at the most advantageous moment, exactly what he did with the southern "peace commissioners," shuffling them between various camps, etc., but never calling them to Washington. Thank you, Cassie, for doing your usual wonderful, understanding, job with this awesome movie!
Great reaction. This movie was very good. Daniel Day Lewis and all of the cast did amazing. My favorite Daniel Day Lewis movie is "In The Name Of The Father." It was so well acted and another great story based on true story. You'll need tissues for that one too.
"In The Name of The Father" another good DDL film! ❤️👌
Lincoln is not Spielberg's most rewatchable or his most memorable film but it's arguably his most intelligent and mature. I never would've picked him to helm something like this but the end result is remarkable. Look at Daniel Day Lewis in this vs him in Gangs of New York and tell me he isn't the best actor on the planet. You can't. I want him to unretire! 😢
I disagree. Hollow and narrow hollywood historical movie showing only the parts of lincoln Spielberg wanted to show. Daniel day is terrific though
@@MrAitraining I do agree they could've covered Lincoln's flaws more but the best biopics show nothing more than a significant moment in the subject's life. Lincoln leading the way to abolishing slavery will obviously be presented as a heroic tale.
@@MrAitraining The movie covers three months of history, it's hardly meant to be comprehensive. What specifically are you alluding to?
I first watched this movie with my dad, who had read the nonfiction book it was based on. At the start of the movie he was giving additional facts and tidbits, but as it went on he and I both got so drawn in that we kind of forgot it was history we both knew, and just enjoyed it. It's a deft trick to make a movie compelling even when you know the ending, but this has the A-class talent to pull it off.
If you want to see Daniel Day-Lewis at the very top of his game then you'll want to watch There Will Be Blood (2007).
Masterpiece of a film
Daniel Day Lewis ..... I mean what can you even say about this man? He puts on such a performance i can only imagine what he was like in real life for all those months during filming.
Willie Lincoln died at the age of 11 years old in February of 1861 of typhoid fever. He was the second of their children to die. 11 years earlier their son Eddie died at the age of 3 years old of tuberculosis. Abe, his wife Mary, Eddie, Willie and Thomas "Tad" are all buried at the Lincoln Tomb in Springfield, Illinois. Tad passed at the age of 18. He was nicknamed Tad short for tadpole by his father because he was a squirmy hyperactive child.
Robert Lincoln was the only child of the Lincolns to reach Adulthood.
He died in 1926, after a long career in business (President of the Pullman Company) and service as Secretary of War and later Ambassador to Great Britain.
Lincoln is pretty much one of my favourite movies, ever. Every performance in the movie is worthy of the word, "powerhouse", especially Sally Field.
Daniel Day Lewis is without a doubt one of the greatest actors ever, one of my idols.
If I could recommend a Daniel Day Lewis movie, I'd recommend In the Name of the Father. My first and probably my absolute favourite Daniel Day Lewis performance. A very high recommendation.
Really happy that you reacted to this brilliant movie. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I am British, but this remains one of my favourite movies. DDL is just phenomenal as Lincoln and the union (No pun intended) of political intrigue with historical drama is just amazing. He makes Lincoln so real, with his stories and even his flaws. So glad you reacted to this!
The house where Lincoln died is across from Ford's Theater. It is a museum and well worth visiting.