Lincoln (2012)

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Movie
German title Lincoln
Original title Lincoln
Lincoln (film, 2012) .png
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2012
length 150 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 12
Rod
Director Steven Spielberg
script Tony Kushner
production Kathleen Kennedy ,
Steven Spielberg
music John Williams
camera Janusz Kamiński
cut Michael Kahn
occupation

Lincoln is an American history - drama from director Steven Spielberg . The feature film produced in 2012 thematizes the last months in the life of the 16th  US President Abraham Lincoln and his political struggle for the final abolition of slavery in the United States . The screenplay is based on the non-fiction book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin, published in 2005 .

The film premiered on October 8, 2012 at the New York Film Festival . It was released in the United States on November 16, 2012, and in Germany and Austria on January 24, 2013. It grossed $ 275 million worldwide and was awarded two Oscars on February 24, 2013 .

action

The civil war was about to end in late 1864 / early 1865. The Confederate States are so weakened that they are about to enter into peace negotiations. Republican President Abraham Lincoln, who has just been re-elected, has set himself the task of outlawing slavery through a constitutional amendment. The Senate approved the 13th amendment to the Constitution in April 1864. To pass it, he needs a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives . In this chamber as well as in his own cabinet , Lincoln encounters fierce opposition - especially from the Democrats, but partly also from his own party. In the House of Representatives, the motives are, among other things, racist; the cabinet wants to end the civil war as quickly as possible and is also prepared to keep slavery in return. Lincoln and his aides try on the one hand with direct and indirect bribery of Democratic MPs, on the other hand with threats and an appeal to ethics to get the missing votes together. Many aspects of the private Lincoln are also shown: the marriage, which suffers from the workload and the death of a common child; Lincoln's refusal to allow his eldest son to go to war; It is also difficult to offer the youngest son a carefree childhood.

Ultimately, Lincoln and his helpers succeed in getting the majority. The president is forced to sign a statement in which he has to be a little creative with the truth. When the amendment is finally adopted on January 31, 1865, the majority of the House of Representatives burst into jubilation and sing the patriotic song Battle Cry of Freedom . The MP Thaddeus Stevens , who is secretly married to his black housekeeper, borrows the official document for one night and brings it to his wife, who reads him the words of the law again aloud.

On February 3, Lincoln meets with representatives from the Southern States at the Hampton Roads Conference . However, these negotiations fail and the war continues. In late March, Lincoln visits the Battlefield of Petersburg, Virginia , where he speaks with General Grant . Shortly thereafter, on April 9th, Grant accepts General Lee's surrender in Appomattox Courthouse .

On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln met with his cabinet to discuss black equality issues. Lincoln is quite cautious about the complete equality of blacks. However, he has to end this session because his wife is already waiting for him in the carriage.

The next shot shows the murdered Lincoln surrounded by his companions. The film ends with a flashback to show Lincoln's speech at his inauguration for his second term.

During audiences and cabinet meetings, Lincoln recounts anecdotes and humorous stories. The congressional debates and the vote are characterized by personal attacks, especially by Thaddeus Stevens.

Production data

The shooting was preceded by twelve years of research by director Steven Spielberg. Early script versions were written by John Logan and Paul Webb. The final script was written by Tony Kushner based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's non-fiction book "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln".

With a budget of 65 million US dollars, Lincoln was partially filmed on location between October and December 2011 in the states of Illinois and Virginia .

Liam Neeson , Spielberg's leading actor from Schindler's list, was initially planned as the main actor from January 2005 . However, in November 2010, Neeson announced that he would no longer be available for Lincoln because he felt too old for the role that then received two-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis .

A one-minute prologue has been added to the film for cinema use outside the USA, which is intended to convey the fundamentals of American history necessary for an understanding of the film to the international audience.

prehistory

In 1974 the mini-series Lincoln was shot, in which Hal Holbrook played the title role. Holbrook, seen in the 2012 film as Francis Preston Blair , received an Emmy in 1976 for portraying US President . Holbrook also portrayed Abraham Lincoln in the 1985 miniseries Torches in the Storm .

reception

success

In 2013, 564,823 visitors were counted at the German box offices nationwide, making the film the 56th place among the most visited films of the year.

criticism

Lincoln received very positive reviews overall. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars and named it the third best film of 2012. He particularly praised Daniel Day-Lewis ' performance . Glenn Kenny of MSN Movies gave the film five out of five stars and praised Spielberg's work as a director. Martin Schwickert from epd film also gave the film 5 out of 5 stars and described it as a "cleverly structured ensemble piece in which excellent actors (...) work their way into the historical figures".

Star Tribune's Colin Covert praised Steven Spielberg, Daniel Day-Lewis and Tony Kushner. These would have created a triumphant work of historical journalism. Charlie McCollum of the San Jose Mercury News called the film "one of the best historical dramas in film history."

For the critic Ian Haydn Smith, Washington shows itself in the film as a world of secret agreements, compromises and self-interests. For him, the representation of the House of Representatives resembles that of a gladiator arena, in which “legends are born and indecision can destroy a career.” He sees similarities to America today. The tone of the film reminds him of a high-density political thriller. He particularly emphasizes the acting performance of Daniel Day-Lewis, who "brilliantly" disappears into his role. In particular, he draws a parallel to the portrayal of Oskar Schindler by Liam Neeson in Spielberg's film Schindler's List . For Spielberg, the critic assigns the film thematically to the films The Color Purple and Amistad , which also deal with the topic of racial conflict. In these three films he sees it as Spielberg's best film. Kushner's "excellent script" and Day-Lewis' "outstanding" acting also contribute to this.

Daniel Day-Lewis' achievement was recognized with a total of 30 film awards and 8 nominations. Tommy Lee Jones received 9 film awards and 14 nominations. Sally Field received 5 film awards and 13 nominations. The ensemble received a total of several nominations.

Awards

synchronization

The German version includes the following voice actors:

role actor Voice actor
Abraham Lincoln Daniel Day-Lewis Frank Röth
Mary Todd Lincoln Sally Field Cornelia Meinhardt
William Seward David Strathairn Reinhard Kuhnert
Robert Lincoln Joseph Gordon-Levitt Jacob Weigert
WN Bilbo James Spader Olaf Reichmann
Preston Blair Hal Holbrook Friedrich Georg Beckhaus
Thaddeus Stevens Tommy Lee Jones Ronald Nitschke
Robert Latham John Hawkes Stefan Krause
Alexander Stephens Jackie Earle Haley Udo Schenk
Edwin Stanton Bruce McGill Roland Hemmo
Ulysses S. Grant Jared Harris Lutz Schnell
Fernando Wood Lee Pace Sascha Rotermund
George Pendleton Peter McRobbie Kaspar Eichel
Elizabeth Keckley Gloria Reuben Katharina Koschny
James Ashley David Costabile Tobias Master
Private Harold Green Colman Domingo Oliver Stritzel
White soldier Lukas Haas Norman Matt
Alexander Coffroth Boris McGiver Tom Vogt
Doctor in the military hospital George Turman Matthias Klages
Edward McPherson Christopher Evan Welch Viktor Neumann
Gideon Welles Grainger Hines Erich Rauker
Harold Hollister Michael Ruff Matthias Klages
Joseph Marstern Joseph Carlson Bastian Sierich
William Slade, Lincoln's house servant Stephen Henderson Frank Ciazynski

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lincoln on IMDb . In: IMDb . Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  2. ^ Certificate of Release for Lincoln . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , December 2012 (PDF; test number: 136 548 K).
  3. ↑ Age rating for Lincoln . Youth Media Commission .
  4. ↑ Data from boxofficemojo , accessed on February 23, 2013
  5. ^ A b Haydn Smith, Ian: Lincoln (2012) . In: Schneider, Steven Jay, Ueberle-Pfaff, Maja (ed.): 1001 films that you should see before life is over. Selected and presented by 77 international film critics. Twelfth, updated new edition. Edition Olms, Oetwil am See 2017, ISBN 978-3-283-01243-4 , p. 919 .
  6. ↑ Neeson quits Spielberg's Lincoln biopic
  7. ↑ KINOaktuell: What you wanted: Münster's cinema year 2013, C. Lou Lloyd, Filminfo No. 4, January 23-29, 2014, p. 24f
  8. ^ Roger Ebert's review of Lincoln . Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  9. ^ Review by Glenn Kenny (MSN Movies) . Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  10. ↑ Lincoln . Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  11. ^ Making history with 'Lincoln' . Archived from the original on January 12, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 11, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.startribune.com
  12. ↑ Charlie McCollum: Review: An epic 'Lincoln' . San Jose Mercury News . November 7, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  13. ^ FAZ January 19, 2013, page 40