As a fan of Daniel Day Lewis, i was extremely excited right from the day Lincoln was announced. So, finally after a couple of months of waiting , Lincoln got released in Bangalore last week. And i had promised myself to check this on the theater. Nothing can be compared to a quality cinema experience in a movie theater. Apart from Daniel Lewis, there was only one thing i was interested in the film which is Abraham Lincoln, the man who abolished slavery in the US of A, himself. Considered to be one of the greatest Presidents of USA and a great leader of modern times, there has been this big iconic image of his being built in our minds right from the child hood.
So, today i some how i managed to put aside a few hours amidst the busy weekend grocery shopping, playing with my daughter and cleaning schedules and rode to a nearby theater at 1 in the noon to catch this film. I managed to reach the multiplex only 10 mins ahead. But i was not very worried about the tickets because i was very sure this is not the kind of film that attracts crowd in Bangalore. But after getting the ticket i was very very surprised to see only a handful of people in the hall. I did a rough count in the interval and there were about 30 people in the 200 seater hall. So less in number that you might look like a idiot for laughing at a joke.
The film opens with a public address by Lincoln some time after getting elected for the second term and ends when a doctor says "The President is no more". Though we are given a few bits of his life before his second term in a few scenes, the film mainly focuses on the last few months of his life, from the day he decides to pass the Amendment to outlaw slavery in US to the day he gets shot because of that.Let me stop here and say that this is one of those very important films not for technical expertise or great acting, but for its attempt to staying truthful to history.
Of-course, the film could have just fed the myth of Lincoln on
how a great man he was and a how a great leader he was and etc etc. It still does, but it takes the high road of demystifying him and then decorating him with his greatness. It exposes the politician in Lincoln and puts us through all the situations where he could have simply taken the safest route and passed the buck to the next person without making any difficult decisions. It also tells us the cunning politics played by him to get a few conservatives to vote in favor of the bill. Lincoln in this film is a guy who strongly in favour of democracy but however on the contrary plays some dirty politics to get a few votes in favour of abolishing slavery.
So, it offers a very very valuable lesson to us about how even in a democratic society at the end of the day, the strings are pulled by only a few people who are elected by us. And these are the guys who make important decisions on behalf of us. And how it is important to elect the right people to represent us because not Just Abraham Lincoln, even Adolf Hitler was elected by the people and for the people.
So, today i some how i managed to put aside a few hours amidst the busy weekend grocery shopping, playing with my daughter and cleaning schedules and rode to a nearby theater at 1 in the noon to catch this film. I managed to reach the multiplex only 10 mins ahead. But i was not very worried about the tickets because i was very sure this is not the kind of film that attracts crowd in Bangalore. But after getting the ticket i was very very surprised to see only a handful of people in the hall. I did a rough count in the interval and there were about 30 people in the 200 seater hall. So less in number that you might look like a idiot for laughing at a joke.
The film opens with a public address by Lincoln some time after getting elected for the second term and ends when a doctor says "The President is no more". Though we are given a few bits of his life before his second term in a few scenes, the film mainly focuses on the last few months of his life, from the day he decides to pass the Amendment to outlaw slavery in US to the day he gets shot because of that.Let me stop here and say that this is one of those very important films not for technical expertise or great acting, but for its attempt to staying truthful to history.
Of-course, the film could have just fed the myth of Lincoln on
how a great man he was and a how a great leader he was and etc etc. It still does, but it takes the high road of demystifying him and then decorating him with his greatness. It exposes the politician in Lincoln and puts us through all the situations where he could have simply taken the safest route and passed the buck to the next person without making any difficult decisions. It also tells us the cunning politics played by him to get a few conservatives to vote in favor of the bill. Lincoln in this film is a guy who strongly in favour of democracy but however on the contrary plays some dirty politics to get a few votes in favour of abolishing slavery.
So, it offers a very very valuable lesson to us about how even in a democratic society at the end of the day, the strings are pulled by only a few people who are elected by us. And these are the guys who make important decisions on behalf of us. And how it is important to elect the right people to represent us because not Just Abraham Lincoln, even Adolf Hitler was elected by the people and for the people.
Hmm.. nice review... makes me want to watch this movie :)
ReplyDeleteHow's life machi?
Hey.. I am Fine.. How are you? Long time.. Still in US?
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