Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Favorite Steven Spielberg movie?
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Old 12-20-2023, 01:14 PM
ThirdOfFive ThirdOfFive is offline
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Originally Posted by Two Bills View Post
Probably a bad thing to say by a foreigner, but I thought Lincoln was dark, slow and pretty boring.
If there had been an intermission, I would not have come back for second half.
JMHO.
I can understand that. Not saying that you don't, but having a pretty broad knowledge of the political winds and system at the time, together with the personalities involved both in Washington and in the field with the Civil War going on, was IMO pretty essential to both understanding and enjoying the movie. The movie touched on some of it but it could reach nothing like a complete description in the time allotted. I would think that most folks not raised in America and schooled in American schools would have a reaction similar to yours.

Credit where credit is due...Spielberg is a fantastic director, but the heart and soul of that movie was Daniel Day-Lewis. I recall reading a review that Lewis didn't play Lincoln, he CHANNELED Lincoln. The research that that man puts into preparing for a role is nothing short of phenomenal: in the case of "Lincoln" that meant not only never breaking character while it was filming but doing extensive research not only on Lincoln's mannerisms and humor but even the timbre and cadence of Lincoln's speech. No recordings (naturally) exist of Lincoln's voice but apparently Day-Lewis went so far as even changing the pitch of his voice to match Lincoln's, who apparently spoke with a rather high-pitched voice.