Interesting fact: before the war, Alexander Stephens and Lincoln were actually pretty good friends in the House of Representatives. They got along with each other very well and respected each other. This must’ve been a very bittersweet moment for the both of them.
It’s not so hard to imagine when you consider that they agreed that Black people were inferior to white people, they just disagreed about whether they ought to be enslaved.
Hard to imagine calling them friends, especially since they would probably disagree on the core fundamental levels of which they both fight against eachother for. One man made a speech to declare the end of slavery as a whole and did everything in his power to ensure that African Americans will have proper enfranchisement as not just people, but citizens, and the other not only was vehemently against abolition, but called in his own speech that the superiority of the white man and the subjugation of black America is "the great truth", in which the cornerstone of this country rests on that exact idea. How could they've possibly been friends when they stand on two very opposite and defining isles of morality?
@@OsamaBinLooney If you seriously think Joe Biden is a socialist, you've not the slightest fucking idea what socialism is. Go talk to actual Socialists or Marxists about what they think of Biden (if they'll let you get close enough to ask the question). I hate Trump because he's a tinpot dictator wannabe who should be tarred and feathered and tossed ass-over-teakettle into the Potomac.
@@OsamaBinLooney I wish Biden was a socialist. Instead he's yet another neo-liberal establishment politician, but that's still an improvement over a fascist like Trump. You dimwit right-wingers should at least educate yourselves, scary I know, on basic political ideologies before throwing around terms you know nothing about.
@CommandoDude Well, there is still the little detail that the Supreme Court advised Johnson and Seward not to try and press charges of treason against Confederate leaders because secession was technically not illegal. That would mean that the south did not revolt, they just used one of their democratic rights, and Lincoln used violence to deprive them of that right. That the south was morally in the wrong (on multiple accounts) doesn't mean they were wrong according to law.
@CommandoDude Yes it does, but you need to take note of three things: 1) It was a 5-3 decision, meaning that the pre-existing laws were ambiguous at best. Especially judge Grier was opposed to the ruling, relying on precedent (Hepburn v. Ellzey) rather than interpreting the Constitution differently. 2) The ruling took place AFTER the Civil War. Nobody can be convicted of a crime, if the law only states it was a crime AFTER the crime was done. 3) Even after Texas v. White, the US government did not feel sure enough to press charges, and with radicals still populating Washington they would have done so had they felt they had at least a chance of succes.
@@GorinRedspear charges were not pressed simply for the fact that Lincoln had organised a relatively merciful defeat for the south. Those army officers who had sworn loyalty to the US and the constitution certainly had committed treason by any normal sense of the word.. As an aside, the US constitution itself deliberately sets a high standard for treason because of the experiences of the founding fathers- who may have had more motivation to break from Britain in the desire to keep slaves; the somerset case in England pronounced the formal end to slavery in Britain and kickstarted abolitionism in the Empire, just a few years before the revolution here.
@@unclejoeoakland True, Lincols literally said 'let them off easy'. Lee's surrender to pretty generous terms was in no small measure influenced by that. When Johnston wanted to surrender under the same terms, it was a different matter. Lincoln was dead, and his policy of appeasement with him. Those that remained wanted to see blood, and they were going to get it, until the Supreme Court told them it was not certain they would be able to get a conviction. As for the committing treason, that only goes if you see the USA as one country, and not a federation of states. The difference in perspective about that was one of the issues leading to the final break up.
*pours hot oil over Lincoln* Lincoln dodges and pulls out Bill the Butcher's knife- " You know how I stayed alive this long? All these years? Fear. The spectacle of fearsome acts. Somebody steals from me, I cut off his hands. He offends me, I cut out his tongue. He rises against me, I cut off his head, stick it on a pike, raise it high up so all on the streets can see. That's what preserves the order of things. Fear."
Neil Pemberton yes, it added humanity to their relationship. Lincoln being as sensitive as he was could see both sides as much as he found the peculiar institution repugnant
Stephens basically concluded this with a promise to Lincoln in exchange for a favor: his favorite nephew was in a northern prison and he promised Lincoln that if he would release him then he, Alex, would go back to his plantation, Liberty Hall, in Georgia and stay there until the war was over and the soldiers came to arrest him. Lincoln released Stephens' nephew and Alex did as he promised. When the soldiers came to arrest him at the end of the war he invited them in for dinner and then left with them, his bags already packed. Stevens was a relative of Margaret Mitchell's mother, And while he was long gone before she was born she did visit cousins living at his former home . Tara as described in the novel (which is very different than the house depicted in the movie) was based in part on Liberty Hall (i.e. rambling and big but not fancy or symmetrical). The house is still standing but it looks quite different from how it looked then.
@@stryder0559 Sure, just like he did in the Corwin Amendment. Hello, Lincoln was elected by LOBBYISTS, who did NOT work for charity. He was a PSYCHOTIC. . FACT: there were fewer Abolitionists in the GOP, than there were black slave-owners in the South. The GOP just played that CARD in order to violate the Constitution, and gain new Free-soil state votes in the Senate, so they could TAX slavery through the roof, to make up for their LOSSES on the practice-- after they IMPORTED AND SOLD most of the slaves to begin with. Keep believing that the robber-barons were kind, gentle humanitarians... the short-bus drivers need work. It's amazing how Americans are so fucking gullible.
this movie is so good for that. Almost all the major characters are cast with such perfect matches for their historical counterparts that it feels so much richer and more immediate. It manages to feel less like you're watching a portrayal of mythologised figures and more like the real people as they were. I swear to god David Strathairn is like an exact double of William H. Seward, not just in facial features, but in facial temperament, the furrow of the brow. It's a testament to both the actors and the casting team that something as simple as 'make the actors look like the real guys' still brings so much more to this as a historical film
@@benoliver5776 and a testament to Spielberg himself. I heard he had the idea for doing this movie a long time before 2012 when it came out. His patience paid off tremendously if that’s the case.
Seward's face is eloquent throughout the scene; for all of Lincoln's composure, Seward senses a terrible fragility in him, knowing how tormented Lincoln has been over the last four years, presiding over the deliberate killing of Americans by other Americans. When Stephens says, "your Union, sir, is bonded in cannonfire and death," Seward is afraid Lincoln is close to breaking down.
Yes. And Lincoln is lucky to have his friend Seward everytime around him. We too felt the incommensurable sadness behind Lincoln composed presidential facade.
That sadness is clearly heard in Lincoln's voice in his answers to Stephems. -He acknowledged no matter how he didn't wanted it, he's part of thousands of deaths. -Add to this the former war broken friendship he had with Stephens.
I love the grey treatment of the Civil War that Spielberg shoots in Lincoln. He shows Lincoln as a pure politician, who has a pure belief about slavery. He wants it to end, but wants the Union preserved above all. Once it looks like the Union will win, slavery becomes a real priority. Lincoln comes across in this film as a real, pragmatic person. I was actually surprised. I love when he builds the political base and says "Slavery, sir? It's done.". It's over, politically. It's a dead issue. People know it's wrong. And the Confederacy is done with it, having handcuffed themselves to it. But Spielberg gives them the space for their argument too. A good film, truly. And Abe doesn't come out unscathed.
Been a while since I saw this movie. Did Spielberg cover the fact that Lincoln used emancipation as a way to keep Europeans out of the war, specifically coming in on the side of the south? That was his main objective.
@@bonkersmcgee4356 They skirt the issue because it takes place later in the timeline of the conflict, but they do talk about the superficial nature of the Emancipation. Lincoln is portrayed as someone opposed to slavery in the film (to justify all the body bags) but is shown as a master politician, which means doing bad things to enact the bad things he wants done. It's a great portrayal of Lincoln, because he isn't a marble American Christ. He's a shrewd politician. And the audience can make of that what they may.
Rosco P. Almost every single Northern state abolished slavery by the early 1800s. Slavery was not nearly as widespread in the north as southern revisionists try to act like it was pre war. There have always been people advocating for the abolishment of slavery, hence why it was being abolished around the world and was a major issue for earlier US presidents as well. Hell, the founders didn’t even want to mess with the issue because they knew how controversial it was back in the 1780s! It wasn’t that it just became an issue in the 1860s, it’ was always an issue since Americas founding. It became widely accepted as immoral and the government should have the right to abolish an immoral practice if the representatives and senators vote to do so. It really can be watered down to that.
Rosco P. Coltrane The ides that blacks destroyed the north just isn’t correct lol. The north is just as northy as its always was. I’m not a huge fan of black culture or anything, but saying the north was destroyed is such a dramatic statement. Also are you seriously trying to tie in Northerners going down south to black coming to the north? That makes literally no sense considering there were just as many blacks in the south and the main reason northerns move south is the nicer temperature.
Rosco P. Coltrane I agree with the whole detour thing entirely. But you are over exaggerating the situation and completely ignoring the fact that blacks are just as prevalent in the south, if not more so then the north now. So it wouldn’t be of any help to northerns to flee to the south in huge numbers like you are claiming since the thing you claim they are running from are in the place you are saying they are fleeing too.
It's weird to think that 10 years before this scene Jackie Earle Haley was delivering pizzas and couldn't get work as an actor. And here he is facing down Daniel Day Lewis in a Spielberg movie.
Jack Healy An actor is an actor. You wouldn’t say “graphic novel writer”. You’d just say “writer”. Christopher Walken plays many strange small cameos and small parts in movies. Is he a character actor? No one ever calls him that.
Jack Healy It’s an unnecessary distinction that serves no real purpose. Completely arbitrary too. Same with “voice actor”. An actor is an actor. Period.
Jack Healy No need to get defensive. I knew what it was and I found it to be a meaningless term. Any actor can play any part. Jack Nicholson plays mostly strange and odd roles. He’s never called a character actor.
This is a great portrayal of Lincoln. Lincoln was the right man for the job. If any other man had been president, I don't think things would've turned out as well as they did. He may not have been a perfect man, he had his faults, he made his mistakes, as do we all. In the end, though, he was the right man for the job.
Trilumn Lincoln was almost a perfect man. Or shall a say a “ perfect politician” the office is not for saints. It takes a sacrifice of morality. You must play your hand.
The Civil War and Vietnam were both illegal wars that help put We the people into the current bad position we are in right now. Much respect to Robert E. Lee and Vietnam veterans .
@@edwardclement102 Robert E. Lee should have been Hanged! ..... Along with ANY Confederate Officer who had been an Officer in the US Army! Treason IS Treason!
Best scene (one of many of course ) Lincoln's parting words" shall we stop this bleeding " The power of civility, dialogue and truth. One can never get enough of that.
The sad thing is in all reality the bleeding never really ended. Even after the first clan was destroyed by the grant administration the culture war ex confederates waged to change the truth of why the war was fought lead to almost a century and a half of racial bigotry and discrimination that has effects lingering on into today. It’s like the ghost of the confederacy just refuses to die. The hatred and animosity they felt to loosing so badly, and for a cause they could not reasonably justify even by the changing standards of their own time.
And yet now we ban speech we don't like because we call it "hate" speech. The banning of speech and thus the loss of dialogue is the abandonment of the search for truth.
@@Ben_not_10 The current United States is proof that the Confederacy was justified in wanting to be separate. Every day more Yankees pour into southern states, fleeing the disastrous policies that made life in California, New York, Illinois, etc...unreasonable, yet coming with the full intent of replicating their failures here. Our ancestors should've fought a guerrilla war rather than ever bend the knee to the treacherous, hypocritical North.
He raised the bar for his colleagues. They put forth their best in order to keep up with him. That's how it works with any endeavor. In order to improve at something, you spend time around people who are better at it than you.
Jackie Earle Haley as Alexander Stephens was very good. His Georgian accent was wonderful. Stephens had a brilliant mind although he was sickly his whole life. He later became governor of Georgia.
Stephens was a... complicated figure to say the least. He was a dedicated lawyer, and he was very reluctant for the Southern states to secede, even pushing for peace late in the conflict. Yet, he was also an outspoken defender of slavery, buying the whole line about slavery being good for slaves.
Nathan Seper yes, complex persona much like Lincoln. I lived in Louisiana and being from Vancouver the culture was foreign to me. Stephen’s was part of that southern antebellum culture and they didn’t see outside of that. It was their norm
Nathan Seper It was the people who own slaves, profit from slavery, think slavery is for the black people's own good, *and* cannot fathom ever not getting their way on expanding slavery to other regions of the USA, that really started the civil war. Lincoln was all but supportive of a constitutional amendment that would forbid the central government from interfering with state affairs (affairs worded in a way that absolutely includes slave economy) but nooooooooo, the southerners would rather just go lick them yankees. ETA en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corwin_Amendment
David W. the Missouri compromise, the Dred Scott trial, the Kansas Nebraska act, and other individual state law appeasements just exacerbated the problem and the conflicts festered and built to the inevitable war. John Brown made a prescient statement at his trial for the Harper’s Ferry incident that America would have a brutal war to pay. That was 10 years before it happened.
@@SimDeck It's great casting. I haven't seen the movie Lincoln but looking at the thumbnail immediately I thought this is probably meant to be Alexander Stephens, because they look so much alike.
@@blackhawkswincup2010 I don't think they voted on looks in those days. Lincoln? Some meanies said he was the original gorilla, arms hanging to his knees. True. Look up the phrase.
In this scene, anyway, Lincoln turned on its head that Confederate complaint about the cost of lives to save the Union. He said that such an immense sacrifice would actually prove its great worth, to preserve democracy.
Simply this, the Southern states wanted a divorce and wanted to be their own nation. This should have been granted to them. Instead the Civil War killed 600,000 soldiers, and who knows how many civilians plus ruination of property and lives. Slavery was on its way out as it was. Would not have survived twenty more years and the blacks in the South would have been treated like they were after the Civil War anyway. I also believe in an alternate timeline the North and the South could have re-formed back into one nation. In 1776, the USA declared themselves independence of the UK. The UK fought for what was theirs. Was George Washington and the Founding Fathers men of greatness or traitors? There was no need for the Civil War.
Leon Andrews George Washington and his comrades were terrorists from Britain's PoV and they'd be hanged, drawn & quartered for rebelling, the only reason they didn't get that was because they won the war. You can't have that with the south if you wanted to preserve the union.
Leon Andrews Slavery was not on its way out by any means, although that argument has been around for decades. In fact the slave population did nothing but expand after the Revolution. And I’ve never heard or read any good reason for why it would have stopped. Slave states were determined to expand slavery to the West. And slaveowners had convinced themselves that slavery was right, that slaves were better off in bondage. So tell me, what was going to end it without force?
@@ewancummins3106 Yes people lose sight of the horrific disaster that was the ACW because of the way it has been "heroicised" by so many after the event, and perhaps it could have been "avoided" - albeit, Lincoln was probably right when he predicted long before the war and long before he was US President, that the slavery issue could only probably ever be resolved by "blood" (or at least, that is what I thought he said).
I admire the eloquent, thoughtful statemenslike way they spoke to each other when discussing matters of dispute. Very inspiring. Wish our current day politicians would speak like this instead of hurling crude insults at each other.
You're joking my man, surely? The guys in the 19th Century hurled worst insults than today's politicians would ever dare to do lol. Look no further than a lot of this film. It displays very accurately how much these guys insulted each other. It does well to highlight that Lincoln was a rare breed. He always rose above that nonsense.
Another great quotation "The first gun that was fired at Fort Sumter sounded the death-knell of Slavery. They who fired it were the greatest practical Abolitionists this nation has produced. "
Did you know that the emancipation didn't include union states like Maryland and while Lincoln was freeing the slaves he was also hanging him around 38 indians. Let me guess Spielberg didn't touch on any of that.
Steven Spielberg has made some great films over the course of his brilliant career, but Lincoln is especially stunning. The legendary Daniel Day-Lewis is simply incredible in this role, and this truly great actor makes 99% of today's so-called 'actors' look like jokes!
Day-Lewis almost declined the role. I think it was Leonardo DiCaprio that talked him into doing it. Lewis didn’t want the pressure of taking on probably the most beloved president in US history, like how Gary oldman was petrified to play Winston Churchill in “the darkest hour” both really brought these fabled politicians to life for a new generation
The mans acting is beyond comparison! As highly regarded as he is I feel he is under appreciated for both his skill and depth of range! This caliber of actor only appears once or twice every half century! A gift to be living and breathing when he to walked the earth!
Daniel Day Lewis has done far fewer movies than most actors because he puts maximum effort into every role unlike most of the no talent hacks out there who continuously get work!
Alexander Stephens was a small and frail man, having suffered from numerous illnesses and ailments throughout his life. I'm rather astounded by how well this film replicated his sickly, emaciated look.
Sees so alien to us in the 21st century that he can simultaneously believe in the institution of slavery yet also shows the colored troops proper hospitality despite them staring daggers at him. As both were former congressmen, Lincoln and Stephens were well acquainted enough so that Lincoln drops formality and calls him by his first name.
If Lincoln wasn’t so well casted in this movie, I’d say Stephens casting was the best. I mean it was perfect, the moment I saw the thumbnail for this video I instantly recognized who it could be. No doubt. Crazy since we have photos of what the man looked like and goddamn what is it just fucking perfect man.
casting was well done, all around !! David Straithairn as William Seward. - Jared Harris as Grant (even though the actor who played Grant in the recent History Channel Bio was even a better match - Justin Salinger is his name). Casting is so important in historical pieces - often overlooked
Can't believe this Lincoln is the same guy who played The Butcher in Gangs of New York and Daniel Plainview in There will be blood... Mind blowing acting. Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the greatest actors of all time. One out of the very few.
He also was quite aware that the Western World was watching. Our democracy, our rule of law, is a fragile thing. As the saying goes, "Freedom is not free". Sad to say, today we have more domestic enemies to our rule of law than we do foreign ones.
As amazing as Daniel Day Lewis' performance as Lincoln, Jackie Earle Haley is equally impressive as Alexander Stephens. (Not to mention, how much he resembles the real Alexander Stephens is uncanny). Not to mention...Jackie Earle Haley, to my generation, will ALWAYS be the legendary Kelly Leak (the greatest little leaguer of all time 🙂)
I wish I'd live in that decade to see that gallant and full of wisdom man, or once to be sit besides him and listen to him solely once before his death, I assume that this world needs more like President. Lincoln, despite that I'm not an American , but I love all the presidents of the US as a boy loves his father, may you Rest in peace Sir
Yeah its too bad that slightly less than half of our country are abunch of hateful, ignorant, confederate loving neo-Nazis who believe in conspiracy theories instead of obvious facts, who care more about winning than the rule of law and who worship a golden idol as their god.... it might be a decent country except for those people
@@hardwirecars i dont understand what you mean, are you saying qanon supporters dont exist, that there are no neo nazi groups in america? That people who believe every word that comes from their orange god’s lips arent ignorant people who have hearts overflowing with hate? Or are you saying my quote of slightly less than half the country are like that? That mightve been hyperbolic on my part but ive seen their rallies, ive heard the words their god spits out, ive seen wanna be soldiers with camo and rifles prowling the streets, ive seen the Q posters and shirts at his rallies.... those people definitely exist or are you going to actually try to tell me i didnt hear and see what i did?
I’d caution you to take this movie with a grain of salt as it likely played fast and loose with history. Abraham Lincoln has been deified in order to keep the country together and, just like all myths, it distorts our vision of reality. He’s not a great man, he is simply the president that kept the union together. Nothing more, nothing less.
This clip isn't accurate at all. I wish real history was taught. You can start by reading Shelby Foote. The Civil War was unnecessary. Civilian labor would have eventually forced slavery to become obsolete because civilian wages can't compete with slave labor. I know everyone wants to picture Lincoln as this super moral person. But, he wasn't. He was just another politician who took a popular stance to win votes. He started the draft, income tax, and big government. It is what it is.
"Did you defeat us with ballots?" "Yes I did, but the point is you could've easily done the same with me by just waiting 4 years for a chance to vote me out. Instead you decided to start a war over it, and now it's time for us to end it."
@@grapeape888 Smaller. Biden is still an authoritarian, but he isn't trying to destroy the integrity of our democracy like Trump tried with his false accusations of fraud. Trump will go down in the history books as the worse President in history. Your children will learn this in school, and your children's children will learn it as well. In a hundred years from now, when the last Trump supporter is buried, all that will remain is a footnote in our history when a reality TV host became president and threw a toddler's tandrum when he lost reelection.
@@VirtueCry ya, a history written by far left college professors and a media in the tank for Democrats. I already know how it'll be taught 50 years from now.
misterjag Why is it that it is Stephens’ speech that is seen as the cornerstone of the Confederacy? How did that come about? Did the South get together and be like let’s pick a cornerstone speech. This one will work. No. They did not do that. I don’t have a problem quoting the speech at all but calling it the cornerstone speech of the Confederacy is stupid because it is called that by the detractors of the South. That’s like going to Obama and asking him how Trump’s presidency is going or asking Trump how Obama’s presidency was and then being like he said this and that so it must be true. And plus, why is it that people always resort to Stephens and not Davis to get their “cornerstone” speech? Could it be because he said that the war was about the North not letting the South govern themselves? No. That doesn’t fit a narrative.
@@JoefromNJ1 I have. 5 say slavery, 3 give no reasons, and the other 5 say northern invasion. Seems like that is a fifty fifty split between the slavery camp and the self defense camp.
Stephens: "Your Union, sir, is bonded in cannon fire and death." Lincoln: "That may be right. But say *all we've done is show the world* that democracy isn't chaos, that there is a great invisible strength in a people's union?" Two interesting revelations in Lincoln's response: 1) he doesn't contest Stephens' claim and 2) he seems to promote foreign concerns ahead of domestic ones when he says " *all we've done...is show the world.* " So, 75-year-old America wants to coach the 550-year-old Habsburgs on the proper form of government? Arrogant.
I wrote a paper on the Hampton Roads Peace Conference in college in my Virginia history class months before this movie was released. It was great to see it in action
D.D.L. is a amazing artist. His portrayal of Lincoln is probably the greatest acting in the history of mankind. He's the Michael Jordan ( Black Jesus ) of the movie industry. He's on a different level. He didn't just play Lincoln. He became Lincoln ,with some sugar on top.
0:26 Amazing fixation in the sequence, broken by the chair being repositioned, almost harboring the sound of a hangmans trap door and the mortality of the situation expires with the second thud. Actor Jackie Earle Haley looks down to signify acceptance of the outcome.
Perhaps the words were not exact, but Daniel Day Lewis got the personality of Lincoln very well. A very sad melancholy man who often used jokes and humor to keep himself lifted.
"How have you held your Union together? With democracy?" You were the ones who declared secession in order to preserve racial slavery. You were the ones who fired the first shots when that secession was, inevitably, unrecognized. You were the ones who started the war. Don't blame Lincoln for finishing it.
@Jason Strom Deinigrating the causes of the civil war to tariffs is laughable. The South cornered themselves by not adopting progressive improvements with banking, taxation, trade and new emerging industries. They foolishly clung to Slave Labour which disintegrated their working class and created a bonified oligarchy. To blame the North for attempting to protect their Free Labour population from this oligarchy and unfair competition as a cause of the civil war is narrow sighted. Slavery was the cause of the civil war, at first indirectly, but as the conflict waged, the very direct and immoral cause, the soul of the nation depending on the outcome.
@Jason Strom additionally, the southern economy was striving in the late 1850s because of the demand of cotton overseas, which further contributed to Southerner's confidence in Independence
@@caleb7660 I'm not anti-South, friend, nor do I believe the North was perfect. Actually, I'd like to see more monuments to Unionists, which were white Southerners who fought for the Union instead of the Confederacy despite being from Confederate states. Every state in the Confederacy had some, which is largely why I don't even refer to the Confederacy as "the South" anymore. So yeah, I'm anti-Confederate, but I am FAR from anti-South.
Abolition was a fringe movement at best at the beginning of the war, and especially in the years leading up to it. Slavery had much to do with secession, but not he fear of it being abolished.
This really is about as close as yo could get to probably being a fly on the wall when that discussion actually went down. All the actors are impeccable.
This has got to be the definitive portrayal of Abraham Lincoln - in the past and most likely through the foreseeable future. Daniel Day-Lewis is a consummate professional...
Such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or rights of property, and have been in general as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. James Madison (considered father of the constitution)
Unpopular subject matter, unpopular story conclusion, went up against box office Juggernauts like: The Avengers, twilight 2, Dark Knight Rises, The Hunger Games etc.
He's probably the most interesting figure in all of American history if you ask me. And Daniel Day Lewis played him to perfection. I really don't think any actor will ever rival his performance. Not ever. It's eerie how he well he inhabited that role.
@@RaphaelAnthony Are you people still going to obsess over Trump? I was hoping that shit would end. Anyway: Trump said he had done more for black Americans SINCE Lincoln. Agree or disagree, but you aren't being accurate about what he said.
It's like a marriage - Do you want a divorce, or do you want to argue and fight and negotiate and sacrifice to eventually make it work? Because some battles are worth having, for what you can accomplish if you stick it out.
Abraham Lincoln is amazing playing himself in this movie.
I thought that too until I realised that Abraham Lincoln was actually playing Daniel Day Lewis.
LMMFAO
Yep he was fond of the theater, he even had his own Booth.
@@joeswanson6782 boom tish
Joe Swanson: BOOOOOOOOOOOO! BOOOOOOOOO! GET THE HOOK! BOOOOOO!
Interesting fact: before the war, Alexander Stephens and Lincoln were actually pretty good friends in the House of Representatives. They got along with each other very well and respected each other. This must’ve been a very bittersweet moment for the both of them.
It’s not so hard to imagine when you consider that they agreed that Black people were inferior to white people, they just disagreed about whether they ought to be enslaved.
Ya they were both members of the whig party
thats why Lincoln refers to Stephens simply as "Alex" one time in this scene. The whole thing really was brother against brother
Hard to imagine calling them friends, especially since they would probably disagree on the core fundamental levels of which they both fight against eachother for.
One man made a speech to declare the end of slavery as a whole and did everything in his power to ensure that African Americans will have proper enfranchisement as not just people, but citizens, and the other not only was vehemently against abolition, but called in his own speech that the superiority of the white man and the subjugation of black America is "the great truth", in which the cornerstone of this country rests on that exact idea.
How could they've possibly been friends when they stand on two very opposite and defining isles of morality?
@@ironcladstudios971”Have I not destroyed my enemies by making friends of them?” - Abraham Lincoln.
“Did you defeat us with ballots?”
Lincoln: “Yes actually, even after your states refused to put my name on the ballots.”
Trump: "Did you defeat us with ballots?"
Biden: "Yerp"
@@OsamaBinLooney Change "bleeding" to "counting" and I could believe it.
@@OsamaBinLooney If Lincoln was alive, Trump would call him a communist marxist, sit down
@@OsamaBinLooney If you seriously think Joe Biden is a socialist, you've not the slightest fucking idea what socialism is. Go talk to actual Socialists or Marxists about what they think of Biden (if they'll let you get close enough to ask the question).
I hate Trump because he's a tinpot dictator wannabe who should be tarred and feathered and tossed ass-over-teakettle into the Potomac.
@@OsamaBinLooney I wish Biden was a socialist. Instead he's yet another neo-liberal establishment politician, but that's still an improvement over a fascist like Trump. You dimwit right-wingers should at least educate yourselves, scary I know, on basic political ideologies before throwing around terms you know nothing about.
"Did you defeat us with ballots?"
"Why, yes. A little over four years ago, as a matter of fact."
@CommandoDude Exactly. In fact, you could even say that the South defeated itself.
@CommandoDude Well, there is still the little detail that the Supreme Court advised Johnson and Seward not to try and press charges of treason against Confederate leaders because secession was technically not illegal. That would mean that the south did not revolt, they just used one of their democratic rights, and Lincoln used violence to deprive them of that right.
That the south was morally in the wrong (on multiple accounts) doesn't mean they were wrong according to law.
@CommandoDude Yes it does, but you need to take note of three things:
1) It was a 5-3 decision, meaning that the pre-existing laws were ambiguous at best. Especially judge Grier was opposed to the ruling, relying on precedent (Hepburn v. Ellzey) rather than interpreting the Constitution differently.
2) The ruling took place AFTER the Civil War. Nobody can be convicted of a crime, if the law only states it was a crime AFTER the crime was done.
3) Even after Texas v. White, the US government did not feel sure enough to press charges, and with radicals still populating Washington they would have done so had they felt they had at least a chance of succes.
@@GorinRedspear charges were not pressed simply for the fact that Lincoln had organised a relatively merciful defeat for the south. Those army officers who had sworn loyalty to the US and the constitution certainly had committed treason by any normal sense of the word.. As an aside, the US constitution itself deliberately sets a high standard for treason because of the experiences of the founding fathers- who may have had more motivation to break from Britain in the desire to keep slaves; the somerset case in England pronounced the formal end to slavery in Britain and kickstarted abolitionism in the Empire, just a few years before the revolution here.
@@unclejoeoakland True, Lincols literally said 'let them off easy'. Lee's surrender to pretty generous terms was in no small measure influenced by that.
When Johnston wanted to surrender under the same terms, it was a different matter. Lincoln was dead, and his policy of appeasement with him. Those that remained wanted to see blood, and they were going to get it, until the Supreme Court told them it was not certain they would be able to get a conviction.
As for the committing treason, that only goes if you see the USA as one country, and not a federation of states. The difference in perspective about that was one of the issues leading to the final break up.
Lewis' performance in this role was absolutely masterful. I don't think there has ever been a better actor in cinema.
Every performance in this movie is masterful.
It is. Can't believe the same actor played a psychotic anti-Lincoln mobster.
Bruno Ganz as Hitler
Yeah...have to admit that was a fine bit of acting on his part!@@Swissswoosher
@@LastMumzy and like Hitler, he wasn’t even German (or Austrian for that matter).
“I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with me”
Just fucking chops off lincolns hands
Compeare him to the present president...
*pours hot oil over Lincoln*
Lincoln dodges and pulls out Bill the Butcher's knife-
" You know how I stayed alive this long? All these years? Fear. The spectacle of fearsome acts. Somebody steals from me, I cut off his hands. He offends me, I cut out his tongue. He rises against me, I cut off his head, stick it on a pike, raise it high up so all on the streets can see. That's what preserves the order of things. Fear."
@@SantomPh I read that in Daniel Day-Lewis's voice, it was hilarious! XD
@@SantomPh Thank God I die a true American!
Lincoln uses Stephens' first name, signifying their personal friendship which started when both were Whigs serving in Congress from 47 to 49.
Neil Pemberton yes, it added humanity to their relationship. Lincoln being as sensitive as he was could see both sides as much as he found the peculiar institution repugnant
Stephens basically concluded this with a promise to Lincoln in exchange for a favor: his favorite nephew was in a northern prison and he promised Lincoln that if he would release him then he, Alex, would go back to his plantation, Liberty Hall, in Georgia and stay there until the war was over and the soldiers came to arrest him. Lincoln released Stephens' nephew and Alex did as he promised. When the soldiers came to arrest him at the end of the war he invited them in for dinner and then left with them, his bags already packed.
Stevens was a relative of Margaret Mitchell's mother, And while he was long gone before she was born she did visit cousins living at his former home . Tara as described in the novel (which is very different than the house depicted in the movie) was based in part on Liberty Hall (i.e. rambling and big but not fancy or symmetrical). The house is still standing but it looks quite different from how it looked then.
@@stryder0559 Sure, just like he did in the Corwin Amendment. Hello, Lincoln was elected by LOBBYISTS, who did NOT work for charity. He was a PSYCHOTIC.
. FACT: there were fewer Abolitionists in the GOP, than there were black slave-owners in the South.
The GOP just played that CARD in order to violate the Constitution, and gain new Free-soil state votes in the Senate, so they could TAX slavery through the roof, to make up for their LOSSES on the practice-- after they IMPORTED AND SOLD most of the slaves to begin with.
Keep believing that the robber-barons were kind, gentle humanitarians... the short-bus drivers need work.
It's amazing how Americans are so fucking gullible.
@@joeswanson6782 I do have to wonder, what kind of drugs are you on?
The cut from when Lincoln says " Shall we stop this bleeding" to Richmond burning is so fucking good
“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for everything else we have tried at this point.” -Winston Churchill
s o m u c h e d g e
Democracy will be replaced by A.I.
@@jackriver1999 or Corporations or Democrats with their SJWism and Socialism creating the world of 1984.
@@joshuawells835 nope. Something that will transcend the politics you and I are familiar with. You gotta think outside the box.
@@joshuawells835 George Orwell was a socialist...
The actor for Stephens literally looks like him.
Ya they nailed it on the selection!
this movie is so good for that. Almost all the major characters are cast with such perfect matches for their historical counterparts that it feels so much richer and more immediate. It manages to feel less like you're watching a portrayal of mythologised figures and more like the real people as they were. I swear to god David Strathairn is like an exact double of William H. Seward, not just in facial features, but in facial temperament, the furrow of the brow. It's a testament to both the actors and the casting team that something as simple as 'make the actors look like the real guys' still brings so much more to this as a historical film
@@benoliver5776 and a testament to Spielberg himself. I heard he had the idea for doing this movie a long time before 2012 when it came out. His patience paid off tremendously if that’s the case.
Sir it’s a honor to speak to you praise the union praise Lincoln
Gettysburg kills it too on the officers lookalikes
Seward's face is eloquent throughout the scene; for all of Lincoln's composure, Seward senses a terrible fragility in him, knowing how tormented Lincoln has been over the last four years, presiding over the deliberate killing of Americans by other Americans. When Stephens says, "your Union, sir, is bonded in cannonfire and death," Seward is afraid Lincoln is close to breaking down.
Yes. And Lincoln is lucky to have his friend Seward everytime around him. We too felt the incommensurable sadness behind Lincoln composed presidential facade.
That sadness is clearly heard in Lincoln's voice in his answers to Stephems.
-He acknowledged no matter how he didn't wanted it, he's part of thousands of deaths.
-Add to this the former war broken friendship he had with Stephens.
I love the grey treatment of the Civil War that Spielberg shoots in Lincoln. He shows Lincoln as a pure politician, who has a pure belief about slavery. He wants it to end, but wants the Union preserved above all. Once it looks like the Union will win, slavery becomes a real priority. Lincoln comes across in this film as a real, pragmatic person. I was actually surprised. I love when he builds the political base and says "Slavery, sir? It's done.". It's over, politically. It's a dead issue. People know it's wrong. And the Confederacy is done with it, having handcuffed themselves to it. But Spielberg gives them the space for their argument too. A good film, truly. And Abe doesn't come out unscathed.
Been a while since I saw this movie. Did Spielberg cover the fact that Lincoln used emancipation as a way to keep Europeans out of the war, specifically coming in on the side of the south? That was his main objective.
@@bonkersmcgee4356 They skirt the issue because it takes place later in the timeline of the conflict, but they do talk about the superficial nature of the Emancipation. Lincoln is portrayed as someone opposed to slavery in the film (to justify all the body bags) but is shown as a master politician, which means doing bad things to enact the bad things he wants done. It's a great portrayal of Lincoln, because he isn't a marble American Christ. He's a shrewd politician. And the audience can make of that what they may.
Rosco P. Almost every single Northern state abolished slavery by the early 1800s. Slavery was not nearly as widespread in the north as southern revisionists try to act like it was pre war. There have always been people advocating for the abolishment of slavery, hence why it was being abolished around the world and was a major issue for earlier US presidents as well. Hell, the founders didn’t even want to mess with the issue because they knew how controversial it was back in the 1780s! It wasn’t that it just became an issue in the 1860s, it’ was always an issue since Americas founding. It became widely accepted as immoral and the government should have the right to abolish an immoral practice if the representatives and senators vote to do so. It really can be watered down to that.
Rosco P. Coltrane The ides that blacks destroyed the north just isn’t correct lol. The north is just as northy as its always was. I’m not a huge fan of black culture or anything, but saying the north was destroyed is such a dramatic statement. Also are you seriously trying to tie in Northerners going down south to black coming to the north? That makes literally no sense considering there were just as many blacks in the south and the main reason northerns move south is the nicer temperature.
Rosco P. Coltrane I agree with the whole detour thing entirely. But you are over exaggerating the situation and completely ignoring the fact that blacks are just as prevalent in the south, if not more so then the north now. So it wouldn’t be of any help to northerns to flee to the south in huge numbers like you are claiming since the thing you claim they are running from are in the place you are saying they are fleeing too.
It's weird to think that 10 years before this scene Jackie Earle Haley was delivering pizzas and couldn't get work as an actor.
And here he is facing down Daniel Day Lewis in a Spielberg movie.
He also worked in human target.
Wow, goes to show you how tough it is to get work in the acting business
Seems Lincoln ain't afraid to be locked in there with Rorschach..
A lesson on hope I guess. Never give up. A great reminder. Thanks.
Probably because he wouldn't "bend" to Hollywood's desires. But they have a powerful way of making you come to their way of thinking.
Daniel Day Lewis probably the best character actor of all time.
There’s no such thing as a “character actor”. Every actor plays a character.
Jack Healy An actor is an actor. You wouldn’t say “graphic novel writer”. You’d just say “writer”.
Christopher Walken plays many strange small cameos and small parts in movies. Is he a character actor? No one ever calls him that.
Jack Healy It’s an unnecessary distinction that serves no real purpose. Completely arbitrary too. Same with “voice actor”. An actor is an actor. Period.
Jack Healy No need to get defensive. I knew what it was and I found it to be a meaningless term. Any actor can play any part. Jack Nicholson plays mostly strange and odd roles. He’s never called a character actor.
Probably???
This is a great portrayal of Lincoln. Lincoln was the right man for the job. If any other man had been president, I don't think things would've turned out as well as they did. He may not have been a perfect man, he had his faults, he made his mistakes, as do we all. In the end, though, he was the right man for the job.
Trilumn Lincoln was almost a perfect man. Or shall a say a “ perfect politician” the office is not for saints. It takes a sacrifice of morality. You must play your hand.
There is a reason Lincoln is the only president whose face is a different direction on coins.
The Civil War and Vietnam were both illegal wars that help put We the people into the current bad position we are in right now. Much respect to Robert E. Lee and Vietnam veterans .
@@edwardclement102 Robert E. Lee should have been Hanged! ..... Along with ANY Confederate Officer who had been an Officer in the US Army! Treason IS Treason!
Trilumn Hear, hear.
Do not let this district you from the fact that Mr. Lincoln was a vampire hunter.
“distract”
Stephens: "I'm not locked in here with you. YOU'RE LOCKED IN HERE WITH ME"
Lincoln: "I. DRINK. YOUR. *MILKSHAKE* "
NORMIE.
The unstoppable force hits the immovable object.
underrated post
You don't want Abe to to reach for that bowling pin
Sends all the GOPs to the yard😜😛
Jackie Earle Haley did an amazing job in this movie.
Whenever was he not a good actor?
@@alexanderward5286 Completely agree with you
@@alexanderward5286 he is so underused.
Yes he did, masterful acting.
He also looks a lot like the actual Vice President Alexander Stephens.
Best scene (one of many of course ) Lincoln's parting words" shall we stop this bleeding " The power of civility, dialogue and truth. One can never get enough of that.
And then it cuts to the next battleground like "Nope"
The sad thing is in all reality the bleeding never really ended. Even after the first clan was destroyed by the grant administration the culture war ex confederates waged to change the truth of why the war was fought lead to almost a century and a half of racial bigotry and discrimination that has effects lingering on into today. It’s like the ghost of the confederacy just refuses to die. The hatred and animosity they felt to loosing so badly, and for a cause they could not reasonably justify even by the changing standards of their own time.
And yet now we ban speech we don't like because we call it "hate" speech. The banning of speech and thus the loss of dialogue is the abandonment of the search for truth.
@@Ben_not_10 The current United States is proof that the Confederacy was justified in wanting to be separate. Every day more Yankees pour into southern states, fleeing the disastrous policies that made life in California, New York, Illinois, etc...unreasonable, yet coming with the full intent of replicating their failures here. Our ancestors should've fought a guerrilla war rather than ever bend the knee to the treacherous, hypocritical North.
@@Ben_not_10 Democrats LOVE 'the bleeding' - as you put it.
Day-Lewis must have terrified colleagues when he was working. “How on Earth can we meet this high standard of acting?”
By bringing it down a notch.....its method to the extreme and we miss most of his best work off camera
Or considering the other actors involved, welcomed the professional challenge . Bring your A GAME to this project. And they did.
He raised the bar for his colleagues. They put forth their best in order to keep up with him. That's how it works with any endeavor. In order to improve at something, you spend time around people who are better at it than you.
You bring in JEH as his opposite. All of these actors crushed this scene.
Good acting inspires more good acting.
lincoln: "i drink your milkshake"
my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
"Dont bully me Lincoln!"
*DRAINAAAAGE*
don't bowl with Lincoln.
Kelis: There are fourscore and seven boys in the yard
Jackie Earle Haley as Alexander Stephens was very good. His Georgian accent was wonderful. Stephens had a brilliant mind although he was sickly his whole life. He later became governor of Georgia.
Stephens was a... complicated figure to say the least. He was a dedicated lawyer, and he was very reluctant for the Southern states to secede, even pushing for peace late in the conflict. Yet, he was also an outspoken defender of slavery, buying the whole line about slavery being good for slaves.
Nathan Seper yes, complex persona much like Lincoln. I lived in Louisiana and being from Vancouver the culture was foreign to me. Stephen’s was part of that southern antebellum culture and they didn’t see outside of that. It was their norm
Nathan Seper It was the people who own slaves, profit from slavery, think slavery is for the black people's own good, *and* cannot fathom ever not getting their way on expanding slavery to other regions of the USA, that really started the civil war. Lincoln was all but supportive of a constitutional amendment that would forbid the central government from interfering with state affairs (affairs worded in a way that absolutely includes slave economy) but nooooooooo, the southerners would rather just go lick them yankees.
ETA
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corwin_Amendment
David W. the Missouri compromise, the Dred Scott trial, the Kansas Nebraska act, and other individual state law appeasements just exacerbated the problem and the conflicts festered and built to the inevitable war. John Brown made a prescient statement at his trial for the Harper’s Ferry incident that America would have a brutal war to pay. That was 10 years before it happened.
Look up “cornerstone speech” by Alex Stephens. Basically admits the confederacy was all about white supremacy
Lincoln also said, " We sacrifice lives for the survival of a nation,, not to win an argument."
Whoever wrote the script and dialog for this movie did a tremendous job!
Tony Kushner. A living legend.
Slavery sir, it’s done. Lol bad ass line
LIES.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH
enTer ZoNe Idiot
Yeah in a movie. Lincoln was a very different man to who he is portrayed as
Especially When in real life Lincoln Said Said "if I could Save the Union and not free a Single Slave I Would "👌🏾.....Cinema is just that....Cinema.
Mo 11 I don’t believe he said that. He did consider shipping the slaves back to Africa though.
Google a photograph of Alexander Stephens - he looks exactly like Jackie Earle Haley.
Played. I did and wow!
@@SimDeck It's great casting. I haven't seen the movie Lincoln but looking at the thumbnail immediately I thought this is probably meant to be Alexander Stephens, because they look so much alike.
I did. He looks like Solomon Lane from Mission Impossible. And how the HELL did a face like that get elected to anything?
@@blackhawkswincup2010 I don't think they voted on looks in those days. Lincoln? Some meanies said he was the original gorilla, arms hanging to his knees. True. Look up the phrase.
Wait, did Alexander Stephens play little league baseball in California?
The line “slavery, sir? It’s done” gives me the chills.
In this scene, anyway, Lincoln turned on its head that Confederate complaint about the cost of lives to save the Union. He said that such an immense sacrifice would actually prove its great worth, to preserve democracy.
Movie-Lincoln makes a pretty argument but the ACW remains the worst disaster in our history (and both sides were to blame).
Simply this, the Southern states wanted a divorce and wanted to be their own nation. This should have been granted to them. Instead the Civil War killed 600,000 soldiers, and who knows how many civilians plus ruination of property and lives.
Slavery was on its way out as it was. Would not have survived twenty more years and the blacks in the South would have been treated like they were after the Civil War anyway.
I also believe in an alternate timeline the North and the South could have re-formed back into one nation.
In 1776, the USA declared themselves independence of the UK. The UK fought for what was theirs. Was George Washington and the Founding Fathers men of greatness or traitors?
There was no need for the Civil War.
Leon Andrews George Washington and his comrades were terrorists from Britain's PoV and they'd be hanged, drawn & quartered for rebelling, the only reason they didn't get that was because they won the war.
You can't have that with the south if you wanted to preserve the union.
Leon Andrews Slavery was not on its way out by any means, although that argument has been around for decades. In fact the slave population did nothing but expand after the Revolution. And I’ve never heard or read any good reason for why it would have stopped. Slave states were determined to expand slavery to the West. And slaveowners had convinced themselves that slavery was right, that slaves were better off in bondage.
So tell me, what was going to end it without force?
@@ewancummins3106 Yes people lose sight of the horrific disaster that was the ACW because of the way it has been "heroicised" by so many after the event, and perhaps it could have been "avoided" - albeit, Lincoln was probably right when he predicted long before the war and long before he was US President, that the slavery issue could only probably ever be resolved by "blood" (or at least, that is what I thought he said).
I admire the eloquent, thoughtful statemenslike way they spoke to each other when discussing matters of dispute. Very inspiring. Wish our current day politicians would speak like this instead of hurling crude insults at each other.
You're joking my man, surely? The guys in the 19th Century hurled worst insults than today's politicians would ever dare to do lol. Look no further than a lot of this film. It displays very accurately how much these guys insulted each other. It does well to highlight that Lincoln was a rare breed. He always rose above that nonsense.
They must truly bloody themselves physically to understand.
This is more profound than I once thought - its up there withe the "Now" scene.
Yep, along with Disney's "Pocahontas."
And almost as accurate!
Kirk Wilson what is the “now” scene?
@@joeswanson6782 no u
The transition of Lincoln begging Stephens, and old friend of his, to “stop the bleeding” to Richmond burning is amazing
Him and Alexander Stephen's were actually friend's?
@@rc59191 Yes, when they served in congress together.
@@RayMcKigneyboth members of the Whig party at the time. Crazy fact
"Slavery sir, it's done." True words of power.
Except it isn't in real life
@@themanwithnonamecalledwyat7575 It is here, and that was his goal, ours should be to extend that to the world.
Another great quotation
"The first gun that was fired at Fort Sumter sounded the death-knell of Slavery. They who fired it were the greatest practical Abolitionists this nation has produced. "
@@treyriver5676 lol as long as there is pimps and hos slavery will never end
Did you know that the emancipation didn't include union states like Maryland and while Lincoln was freeing the slaves he was also hanging him around 38 indians. Let me guess Spielberg didn't touch on any of that.
This movie is directed beautifully. Arguably Spielberg’s best and that says a lot.
pretty sure you'd lose that argument. the film was ok. daniel day lewis' performance is the only reason this film is memorable.
Yep just like every Disney film.
And almost same historical accuracy.
Steven Williams Lincoln is a great movie but it’s nowhere near Spielbergs Best
Joe Swanson have you read team of rivals? The movie was based on that book
It’s my favorite of his and that’s says a lot.
Going from this to
"I have words. The best words"
Steven Spielberg has made some great films over the course of his brilliant career, but Lincoln is especially stunning. The legendary Daniel Day-Lewis is simply incredible in this role, and this truly great actor makes 99% of today's so-called 'actors' look like jokes!
Day-Lewis almost declined the role. I think it was Leonardo DiCaprio that talked him into doing it. Lewis didn’t want the pressure of taking on probably the most beloved president in US history, like how Gary oldman was petrified to play Winston Churchill in “the darkest hour” both really brought these fabled politicians to life for a new generation
Alexander Stephens looked just as weird in real life. They really nailed it.
The mans acting is beyond comparison! As highly regarded as he is I feel he is under appreciated for both his skill and depth of range! This caliber of actor only appears once or twice every half century! A gift to be living and breathing when he to walked the earth!
agree entirely
Daniel Day Lewis has done far fewer movies than most actors because he puts maximum effort into every role unlike most of the no talent hacks out there who continuously get work!
Dude.....he's just an actor. It's not that big of a deal.
Alexander Stephens was a small and frail man, having suffered from numerous illnesses and ailments throughout his life. I'm rather astounded by how well this film replicated his sickly, emaciated look.
Sees so alien to us in the 21st century that he can simultaneously believe in the institution of slavery yet also shows the colored troops proper hospitality despite them staring daggers at him. As both were former congressmen, Lincoln and Stephens were well acquainted enough so that Lincoln drops formality and calls him by his first name.
If Lincoln wasn’t so well casted in this movie, I’d say Stephens casting was the best. I mean it was perfect, the moment I saw the thumbnail for this video I instantly recognized who it could be. No doubt. Crazy since we have photos of what the man looked like and goddamn what is it just fucking perfect man.
@@socomply5963 The guy who played Seward looks almost identical as well.
My God, Jackie Earle Haley is looking the part. Look him up (Alexander Stephens). He could be his twin brother
casting was well done, all around !! David Straithairn as William Seward. - Jared Harris as Grant (even though the actor who played Grant in the recent History Channel Bio was even a better match - Justin Salinger is his name). Casting is so important in historical pieces - often overlooked
Thaddeus Stevens was also pretty great.
+
Can't believe this Lincoln is the same guy who played The Butcher in Gangs of New York and Daniel Plainview in There will be blood... Mind blowing acting. Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the greatest actors of all time. One out of the very few.
Such a great film.
The lighting in this scene is beautiful, that soft glow through the lights- how it shines on Haley. Very hopeful, congruent with Lincoln's speech
So was "the conspirators " by Robert Redford
One of the best performances I've ever seen.
His ending monologue shows how this was an important event in world history - free elections in the middle of a civil war.
He also was quite aware that the Western World was watching. Our democracy, our rule of law, is a fragile thing. As the saying goes, "Freedom is not free". Sad to say, today we have more domestic enemies to our rule of law than we do foreign ones.
Does anyone think he looks like Steve Nash? I can’t be the only one?
Daniel Sales Lincoln destroys Stephens in a game of one on one. He backs him up in the low post all day.
Yes especially with the hair
@@sonofmunson If score keeps the ball, depends on who starts, especially if Stephens is quick or has a good outside shot.
Damn, you’re right! 🏀
I knew that Canadian motherfucker couldn't be trusted.
It is as if Lincoln just return from the deaths on Screen. What for an brilliant actor I must say.
The use of lighting in this scene is incredible
Jesus. Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln is really one of the greatest performances ever.
As amazing as Daniel Day Lewis' performance as Lincoln, Jackie Earle Haley is equally impressive as Alexander Stephens. (Not to mention, how much he resembles the real Alexander Stephens is uncanny). Not to mention...Jackie Earle Haley, to my generation, will ALWAYS be the legendary Kelly Leak (the greatest little leaguer of all time 🙂)
I have been binge watching Daniel Day-Lewis movies and it has been a awesome pleasure
There's a subtle "yeah right" sniff by Jackie Earle Haley at 0:44 . Very subtle.
What a catch. Nice work sir.
This really hits home right now.
This is one of the greatest movies ever made. I rank it with Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, and Citizen Kane.
Lincoln on democracy: I'M NOT LOCKED IN HERE WITH YOU, YOU'RE LOCKED IN HERE WITH ME
Haha
Jackie Earle haley is very underrated.
Every child in America should be made to watch this film in school.
I wish I'd live in that decade to see that gallant and full of wisdom man, or once to be sit besides him and listen to him solely once before his death, I assume that this world needs more like President. Lincoln, despite that I'm not an American , but I love all the presidents of the US as a boy loves his father, may you Rest in peace Sir
This scene is brilliant...cinematic genius
This is pretty poignant in light of recent events at the US Capitol. Hearing President Lincoln’s speech toward the end made me tear up.
amen
Yeah its too bad that slightly less than half of our country are abunch of hateful, ignorant, confederate loving neo-Nazis who believe in conspiracy theories instead of obvious facts, who care more about winning than the rule of law and who worship a golden idol as their god.... it might be a decent country except for those people
@@corvus2512 you are a god damn fool if you actually believe that.
@@hardwirecars i dont understand what you mean, are you saying qanon supporters dont exist, that there are no neo nazi groups in america? That people who believe every word that comes from their orange god’s lips arent ignorant people who have hearts overflowing with hate? Or are you saying my quote of slightly less than half the country are like that? That mightve been hyperbolic on my part but ive seen their rallies, ive heard the words their god spits out, ive seen wanna be soldiers with camo and rifles prowling the streets, ive seen the Q posters and shirts at his rallies.... those people definitely exist or are you going to actually try to tell me i didnt hear and see what i did?
@@corvus2512 half are you fucking dense WAKE UP CHILD
I remember strongly that when I saw this movie for the first time, after a few minutes tears started to flow from my eyes. Never happened before.
A historically accurate movie and perhaps the best historical drama ever produced.
Listen to Abraham’s words. He is the moral nature that must survive to ensure our countries life. Otherwise we will follow Rome.
Amen brother
And yet, the west carried on with lying and murdering its way through the world
We this went from intelligent discussion to stupid trolling real quick. . .
I’d caution you to take this movie with a grain of salt as it likely played fast and loose with history. Abraham Lincoln has been deified in order to keep the country together and, just like all myths, it distorts our vision of reality. He’s not a great man, he is simply the president that kept the union together. Nothing more, nothing less.
This clip isn't accurate at all. I wish real history was taught. You can start by reading Shelby Foote. The Civil War was unnecessary. Civilian labor would have eventually forced slavery to become obsolete because civilian wages can't compete with slave labor. I know everyone wants to picture Lincoln as this super moral person. But, he wasn't. He was just another politician who took a popular stance to win votes. He started the draft, income tax, and big government. It is what it is.
Absolute Masterpiece of a movie. The performances, especially Day-Lewis, are exceptionally good
"Did you defeat us with ballots?"
"Yes I did, but the point is you could've easily done the same with me by just waiting 4 years for a chance to vote me out. Instead you decided to start a war over it, and now it's time for us to end it."
Or have corrupt election staff falsify ballots and then refuse an in depth review.
@@grapeape888 stfu trumptard
@@ShiningTrapezoid Trump is gone, you got a much bigger problem now.
@@grapeape888 Smaller. Biden is still an authoritarian, but he isn't trying to destroy the integrity of our democracy like Trump tried with his false accusations of fraud. Trump will go down in the history books as the worse President in history. Your children will learn this in school, and your children's children will learn it as well. In a hundred years from now, when the last Trump supporter is buried, all that will remain is a footnote in our history when a reality TV host became president and threw a toddler's tandrum when he lost reelection.
@@VirtueCry ya, a history written by far left college professors and a media in the tank for Democrats. I already know how it'll be taught 50 years from now.
Jackie Earley Haley as Alexander Stephens is just excellent and perfect
Great casting
@@Sshooter444 facts
This movie was so ahead of its time
Surprise
Amusement
Slight contempt
Reassessment
Realization
Acceptance
Like
Props to the cameraman for traveling back in time to capture this historical moment.
All the actors in this film is awefully amazing.
Thanks for sharing Alexander Gould
Slavery was the "cornerstone" of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens acknowledged in a famous speech..
misterjag Why is it that it is Stephens’ speech that is seen as the cornerstone of the Confederacy? How did that come about? Did the South get together and be like let’s pick a cornerstone speech. This one will work. No. They did not do that. I don’t have a problem quoting the speech at all but calling it the cornerstone speech of the Confederacy is stupid because it is called that by the detractors of the South. That’s like going to Obama and asking him how Trump’s presidency is going or asking Trump how Obama’s presidency was and then being like he said this and that so it must be true. And plus, why is it that people always resort to Stephens and not Davis to get their “cornerstone” speech? Could it be because he said that the war was about the North not letting the South govern themselves? No. That doesn’t fit a narrative.
@@thefreeman8791 ever read the southern states' secession declarations?
@@JoefromNJ1 I have. 5 say slavery, 3 give no reasons, and the other 5 say northern invasion. Seems like that is a fifty fifty split between the slavery camp and the self defense camp.
@@onepiecefan74 Seems like slavery was a major reason for seceding.
@@baracksays9401 Tied with defense against Northern Invasion.
One of the best scenes in movie and American history.
The actor playing the Confederate VP is Kelly Leak from the Bad News Bears
At their 2/3/1865 meeting, Lincoln had only two more months to live. He gave his all to the very end.
Stephens: "Your Union, sir, is bonded in cannon fire and death."
Lincoln: "That may be right. But say *all we've done is show the world* that democracy isn't chaos, that there is a great invisible strength in a people's union?"
Two interesting revelations in Lincoln's response: 1) he doesn't contest Stephens' claim and 2) he seems to promote foreign concerns ahead of domestic ones when he says " *all we've done...is show the world.* "
So, 75-year-old America wants to coach the 550-year-old Habsburgs on the proper form of government? Arrogant.
I find your reaction to this to be extremely ignorant and bewildering
Best actor of our times. Even surpasses Brando.
One great scene
after another!
I wrote a paper on the Hampton Roads Peace Conference in college in my Virginia history class months before this movie was released. It was great to see it in action
DDL wasnt born to play Lincoln. Lincoln was born to be portrayed by DDL
D.D.L. is a amazing artist. His portrayal of Lincoln is probably the greatest acting in the history of mankind.
He's the Michael Jordan ( Black Jesus ) of the movie industry. He's on a different level. He didn't just play Lincoln. He became Lincoln ,with some sugar on top.
0:26 Amazing fixation in the sequence, broken by the chair being repositioned, almost harboring the sound of a hangmans trap door and the mortality of the situation expires with the second thud.
Actor Jackie Earle Haley looks down to signify acceptance of the outcome.
Perhaps the words were not exact, but Daniel Day Lewis got the personality of Lincoln very well. A very sad melancholy man who often used jokes and humor to keep himself lifted.
"How have you held your Union together? With democracy?"
You were the ones who declared secession in order to preserve racial slavery. You were the ones who fired the first shots when that secession was, inevitably, unrecognized. You were the ones who started the war. Don't blame Lincoln for finishing it.
@Jason Strom Deinigrating the causes of the civil war to tariffs is laughable. The South cornered themselves by not adopting progressive improvements with banking, taxation, trade and new emerging industries. They foolishly clung to Slave Labour which disintegrated their working class and created a bonified oligarchy. To blame the North for attempting to protect their Free Labour population from this oligarchy and unfair competition as a cause of the civil war is narrow sighted. Slavery was the cause of the civil war, at first indirectly, but as the conflict waged, the very direct and immoral cause, the soul of the nation depending on the outcome.
@Jason Strom additionally, the southern economy was striving in the late 1850s because of the demand of cotton overseas, which further contributed to Southerner's confidence in Independence
@@caleb7660 I'm not anti-South, friend, nor do I believe the North was perfect. Actually, I'd like to see more monuments to Unionists, which were white Southerners who fought for the Union instead of the Confederacy despite being from Confederate states. Every state in the Confederacy had some, which is largely why I don't even refer to the Confederacy as "the South" anymore.
So yeah, I'm anti-Confederate, but I am FAR from anti-South.
@@caleb7660 slavery was not on its way out, it was expanding. Mute point. Southern sympathizers have been arguing the same mute points for 150 years.
Abolition was a fringe movement at best at the beginning of the war, and especially in the years leading up to it. Slavery had much to do with secession, but not he fear of it being abolished.
I love seeing the reaction of one of the delegates after he says slavery was over. And Alexander Stephans brief mention of democracy is hilarious
Indeed. They wanted to end Democracy, and the monarchies of Europe were hoping they would.
This really is about as close as yo could get to probably being a fly on the wall when that discussion actually went down. All the actors are impeccable.
Acting is good, the scene is a fallacy
Great scene!
They nailed the casting in this movie
Lincoln is such a badass, he is facing down Freddy Krueger.
And Rorschach.
This has got to be the definitive portrayal of Abraham Lincoln - in the past and most likely through the foreseeable future. Daniel Day-Lewis is a consummate professional...
This is my favorite film about Lincoln
"At all rates whatever may be proven by blood and sacrifice must've been proved by now!"
He looked exactly like Alexander Stephens.
Wow they really did a bang up job on casting and costuming. Like it’s scary how close they look like the real counterparts
I really did love this movie.
Such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or rights of property, and have been in general as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.
James Madison (considered father of the constitution)
How did this movie not win Best Picture? It’s brilliant.
Pathetic.
Do you really not know why?
Reppin Seattle 79 I don't know.
Unpopular subject matter, unpopular story conclusion, went up against box office Juggernauts like: The Avengers, twilight 2, Dark Knight Rises, The Hunger Games etc.
@@reppinseattle7974 i agree thats why but it shows the shallowness of hollywood.
Reppin Seattle 79 Sucks.
Superb acting.
The look on Johnson's face when Lincoln said....slavery it's done...priceless.
0:18 slavery sir it’s done Lincoln is my most favorite historical figure
He's probably the most interesting figure in all of American history if you ask me. And Daniel Day Lewis played him to perfection. I really don't think any actor will ever rival his performance. Not ever. It's eerie how he well he inhabited that role.
But... but Trump says he's better than Lincoln
@@RaphaelAnthony Are you people still going to obsess over Trump? I was hoping that shit would end. Anyway: Trump said he had done more for black Americans SINCE Lincoln. Agree or disagree, but you aren't being accurate about what he said.
@@RaphaelAnthony I don’t know if you’re a Trump supporter or not but I don’t ever compare him to Lincoln
@@RaphaelAnthony no offense but you need to except that he lost
It's like a marriage - Do you want a divorce, or do you want to argue and fight and negotiate and sacrifice to eventually make it work? Because some battles are worth having, for what you can accomplish if you stick it out.
This was one of the best movies I saw
There's something about the actor who Sat next to Alex. The way he moves his head when lincoln goes on about democratic process. Gets me everytime