Better Angels

[Rob Wick]

Tonight, the Historic Southern Indiana Outreach partnered with the Abraham Lincoln National Boyhood Historic Site for a sneak preview of “Better Angels” before it opens in New York and Los Angeles. Directed by A.J. Edwards and produced by Terence Malick, the film showcases the early life of Lincoln in southern Indiana. I attended the film along with a good friend of mine.

From a historical standpoint, the film pretty much follows the standard story. Given that Edwards used the book “There I Grew Up” by William Bartelt, there is really little to complain about from that perspective. The only thing that seemed troublesome was a scene which shows a group of African-American slaves in chains being led through the forest in front of the young Lincoln. Even though slavery was banned in Indiana by the Northwest Ordinance, there were still some slaves in the state at the time Lincoln lived there up to about 1820, so it’s not impossible that something like that ever happened, but to the best of my knowledge, Lincoln never spoke of anything like that. The scene seemed tacked on.

The use of Dennis Hanks as narrator also bothered me, given the unreliability of his testimony. It seems a better option that the director could have used would have been Lincoln himself reminiscing on his youth, but I doubt too many people not familiar with Hanks would have the same problem as me. The young boy who played Lincoln, Braydon Denney, who is from Kentucky, appeared at the advance screening and talked with the audience after the movie. He did a good job capturing what it must have been like for the young Abraham Lincoln without turning him into a caricature of the noble youth which could have easily happened. In his short conversation with the audience, he seemed like any other young boy.

The dialogue in the film is sparse, which seemed to make it drag in places. The score seemed out of place as it was mostly classical music, where songs of the day might have been more effective. The film could have been cut down by about 30 minutes without hurting it in any way. Using black and white instead of color gave it an almost existential feel, which I think will turn some people off. To be honest, other than the dedicated Lincoln aficionado, I doubt too many people will pick this as a Saturday night movie, but then again, that would probably be the case given that the film will likely have a limited release.

In addition to Denney, the other actors who appeared in the film did a good job. Jason Clarke, who played Thomas Lincoln, did so without making him a beast or a saint. He was a rough-hewn frontier man who was kept busy making sure his family survived, yet he did have moments of tender affection for his young son. Brit Marling, who played Nancy Lincoln and Diane Kruger, who was Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln, both did a good job, but I have to say that every time I saw them on screen, I thought 21st century actresses instead of 19th century pioneer women. To be fair, given that we have no idea what Nancy Hanks looked like and the only picture of Sarah was shortly before her death in 1869 at the age of 80, it’s difficult to imagine them as young women.

One wishes the film had actually been shot in southern Indiana instead of New York State as it would have added to the realism. Having been to the boyhood site before, it didn’t really match the set. I guess a forest is a forest is a forest, but in a nitpicky way, it bothered me. Plus, my friend who came along said, having not known where the movie was filmed, that it reminded him of New York State, where he used to live.

Overall, I have to say the film was very well done and I can recommend it without too many reservations. It’s not “Lincoln” by any means, but it doesn’t pretend to be. It is one filmmaker’s attempt to tell the story of the early life of a great American hero. All in all, it was an enjoyable movie.

Best
Rob