Lincoln
Lee Pace as Fernando Wood
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by Tony Kushner, Doris Kearns Goodwin
Release Date: October 8, 2012
Also starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn
Genre: Biography | Drama | History
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Synopsis
As the Civil War continues to rage, America’s president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves.
Trivia & Facts
• Steven Spielberg spent 12 years researching the film. He recreated Lincoln’s Executive Mansion office precisely, with the same wallpaper and books Lincoln used. The ticking of Lincoln’s watch in the film is the sound of Lincoln’s actual pocket watch. Lincoln’s watch is housed in the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort, Kentucky (not the Lincoln Presidential Library.) It is the watch he carried the day of his assassination.
• During the three and a half months of filming, Steven Spielberg addressed his actors in character: he called Daniel Day-Lewis “Mr. President,” and Sally Field “Mrs. Lincoln,” or “Molly.” Additionally, he wore a suit every day on set.
• Although some viewers were surprised by the usage of the word “fuck” in the movie, the Oxford English Dictionary dates the word back to (at least) the early 1500s, around 350 years before the American Civil War and Lincoln’s presidency.
Memorable Quotes
Fernando Wood: Estimable colleagues, two bloody years ago this month, his Highness, King Abraham Africanus the First, our Great Usurping Caesar, violator of habeas corpus and freedom of the press, abuser of states’ rights.
Quotes About The Film
“Shooting scenes with Steven Spielberg in the Congress (sic) [for Lincoln], that was pretty incredible. Big scenes, lots of extras, a couple cameras moving. You really feel like, “Wow, I’ll remember this. It kinda doesn’t get better than this.””
“On set with Steven Spielberg, everyone felt how much that story meant to him, the story of the 16th president. Everyone on that set felt it and [was] inspired by it. And that’s how we all found ourselves on his page, because he’s inspiring.”
“As for Lincoln, that was a real pinnacle of what I’ve done as an actor — to be on that set with Steven Spielberg and working with Tommy Lee Jones was just awesome. It was very different than theater. We didn’t rehearse at all. We’d literally just come to the set and Steven was like, “OK, are you ready to shoot his?” I had this big, long speech my first day on the set, and there were hundreds of people in the room, and he was like, “Well, why don’t we just shoot one take? I’ve got the camera back there.” And I was just like, “Alright!””
Photo Gallery
Coming soon.