President Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln (1992) Truly excellent 4-video vignettes of Lincoln's presidential years heightened by dramatic readings by a bevy of well-known actors and actresses. This reflects the Kunhardt family uncommon standards, that are also seen in The American PresidentMy students sign up on a waiting list to borrow videos from my two complete sets.
Lincoln (2006) Abraham Lincoln is assuredly one of the most elusive individuals to grasp. In the History Channel’s newest biography, the sixteenth president describes himself in one of his letters as “the most miserable man living.” Producer-director Vikram Jayanti takes great pains over the course of the 140-minute, two-part documentary to show how true Lincoln’s self-appraisal actually was. As the panel of prominent Lincoln scholars who weave in and out of Jayanti’s narrative assert, Abraham Lincoln’s greatness was formed by – not as the result of – his traumatic burdens, personal tragedies, and mental turmoil.
The film’s central thesis holds that the source of Lincoln’s strength rests in his ability to harness his own depression and use it as fuel for his achievements. Lincoln was not just depressed, the film argues, but decidedly suicidal and constantly on the verge of mental calamity. Jayanti departs from most Lincoln biographers by focusing intently on Lincoln’s melancholia and his own coping strategies devised over a lifetime of abuse – both by his father and later by his wife – self-hate, self-doubt, and intense grief. Depicting a multitude of personal traumas, depressive episodes, and mental breakdowns (most episodes probably not known by the general public), Javanti produces a deeply human portrait infused by the strange alchemical mixture of dark impulses and noble ambitions which marks Lincoln’s life and career – and ultimately, forges his legacy.
By presenting Lincoln’s travails through a slick use of the subjective camera and a framing device – the last day of Lincoln’s life, April 14, 1865 – Javanti follows Lincoln’s movements as the clouds of inevitable fate gathers around him. Within this device, the filmmaker goes back to Lincoln’s childhood and moves forward with recreations, as the erstwhile talking heads like Gore Vidal, Andrew Solomon, Joshus Shenck, and others opine and offer conjecture, along with excerpts from Lincoln’s letters and speeches. Lincoln’s internal struggles made him more empathetic to others and more vulnerable as he grappled with the Herculean tasks of winning the Civil War, writing the Emancipation Proclamation, and re-uniting the shattered republic.
At times, the film succeeds in offering often profound insights into Lincoln’s psyche through the commentary provided by its panel of prominent Lincoln scholars (Harold Holzer, Jan Morris, Doris Kearns Goodwin, et al.). However, it is this same earnestness which ultimately causes the film to stumble. The film loses its way when it turns it attention to areas of Lincoln’s life which are not only troubling for historians, but beyond tawdry for even the most understanding audience member. Once Jayanti ventures into the realm of Lincoln’s sexuality, particularly the long vexing subject of Lincoln’s “potential” homosexuality, he seriously erodes and undercuts the profundity he has managed to build. The evidence offered is scant, easily misread, and specious at best. These serve little to advance the development of Lincoln’s personal demons or his struggle with them.
Lincoln does excel, when delving into the president’s turbulent and traumatic early life, childhood, and young adulthood. Beset by tragedies early on such as the horrible death of his mother when he was nine (with Lincoln having to help fashion her coffin) and the abuse of his father (and their eventual and permanent estrangement), Lincoln nurses his anguish with a fierce determination to succeed and a blind, almost limitless ambition. The film not only reveals the depths of Lincoln’s depressive tendencies but also renders his two nervous breakdowns and suicidal fears in compelling set pieces. These revelations overshadow the more tabloid-oriented discussions (his supposed history of visiting prostitutes before his marriage and his certainty that he had contracted syphilis from one in 1832, among others).
It is ultimately this unevenness from deeply compelling examinations of his personal trauma to spurious conjectural deliberations of Lincoln’s sex life that weakens an otherwise engrossing look at the most complex and fascinating figure in the nation’s history. The end product results in a jarring tension between thoughtful empathy for Lincoln and emotional outrage toward the filmmaker and his chorus of talking heads.
Adding further to this uneven quality is Jayanti’s previously mentioned twin structural devices of subjectivity and narrative framing. The subjective camera representing Lincoln’s perspective on his last day often vacillates between off-putting and outright artificiality. This device proves problematic when the film moves backwards from April 14, 1865 to earlier points in Lincoln’s life. Though sophisticated, the end effect – when joined with commentary, numerous recreations, and voiceover readings – proves taxing for the audience and appears more self-conscious than insightful or emotionally satisfying. Though flawed, Lincoln paints a compelling and accessible portrait of a complex, contradictory personality cast in a chiaroscuro of shadows and light.
James Yates Northwestern Oklahoma State University jnyates@nwosu.edu
Abraham Lincoln: A New Birth of Freedom (1999) Excellent 60-minute insight into aspects of Lincoln’s life and career, enhanced by a serious assessment of the major practical issues confronting Lincoln both as political candidate, then as president. An impressive cast of scholars, as well as cameo appearances by political figures. A highly worthwhile glance into the greatness of Lincoln and the survival-of-the-Union balance he was endeavoring to maintain, while carefully taking initiatives that resulted in historians ranking him the greatest American president.
An Evening With Abraham Lincoln: Discover Lincoln’s Secrets of Leadership, High Achievement, and Self-Improvement (1998) Masterful insight into key aspects of Lincoln’s life and personality by Lincoln recreator Gene Griessman. The focus is on Lincoln’s philosophy, humor, and his six principles for success rather than a chronological account of his political life.
The Speeches of Abraham Lincoln (1990) Competent selection of some of Lincoln's major speeches.
