Spielberg Reveals Lincoln Poster

[LincolnMan]

Any idea of what the length of the movie will be?

[BettyO]

I believe it will be about 2 hours -

[LincolnMan]

I just wondered. Sometimes 3-hour movies are a bit much for the casual viewer.

[Claudine]

Daniel Day-Lewis looks stunning as Lincoln. He is such a great actor. I cannot wait to watch the movie. Unfortunately, the release date for Germany has not been announced yet. You lucky Americans!

[RJNorton]

Steven Spielberg explained why he left the assassination out:

"Steven Spielberg says cutting the assassination scene from his Abraham Lincoln film was an “easy” decision to make.

Spielberg’s movie Lincoln tells the story of the late President of the United States as he faced difficult decisions during the Civil War.

Lincoln was famously assassinated in 1865, but the director decided not to show the incident in his intimate portrait of the politician.

“The decision was pretty easy to make, because I think had we taken it right up to the assassination, the film would've become exploitation,” he explained to Mania.

“And I didn’t want to go anywhere near that. That’s a very scary word, especially when you’re dealing with history. Nothing could be gained by showing that. I did not want to exploit the assassination, which has been depicted in other films ad nauseam.”

The gripping biopic stars Daniel Day-Lewis and is set for worldwide release early next year.

For Spielberg, the film is something he has always wanted to do and stems from an interest in Lincoln he has had since childhood.

“I’ve always had a personal fascination with the myth of Abraham Lincoln,” he confessed.

“My fascination with Lincoln started as a child, then got to the point where – after reading so much about him – I thought there was a chance to tell a segment of his life to moviegoers, and that’s how this whole fascination began."

Article is here.

[Laurie Verge]

I'm not quite certain what he means about "exploitation??"

[LincolnMan]

I was puzzled by it to Laurie. I was sitting thinking about what to say about the comment-and left to go get a cup of coffee. Glad it puzzled you too. Now back to the Java.

[LincolnMan]

Maybe by "exploit" Speilberg meant he didn't want to take advantage of our emotions regarding the assassination-as many people might consider it a "cheap shot" (no pun intended)?

[LincolnMan]

Last night I was channel surfing and landed on C-Span 3. A re-broadcast of the event that took place at Gettysburg, Nov. 19, 2012 was showing. I had not seen this before. The event was commemorating President Lincoln's visit to Gettysburg. Among the speakers for the occasion were Harold Holzer and Steven Spielberg. Has anyone else seen this broadcast? Spielberg gave a stirring speech. He talked about his 10 years of research on Lincoln for the movie. He mentioned that, like for many of us I'm sure, Lincoln has become sort of a "family member." He called himself a "Lincoln obsessive." He also stated that one of his goals for the movie was that for two and a half hours viewers might experience Lincoln "alive." This was the primary reason why he didn't delve into the assassination. In a word, Spielberg presented himself as a great admirer of our 16th president. I know the movie isn't eveyone's "cup of tea." However, even with those who didn't like the film very much, Spielberg did bring the sight of a real living, human Lincoln on the screen in a masterful way. Doris Kerns Goodwin, whose book Team of Rivals was the basis for the screenplay- was also there-and she offered an excellent speech, as well. Perhaps, the event will be shown again. It's worth seeing.

[Rob Wick]

Bill,

Here's a link to Spielberg's speech.

Best
Rob

[LincolnMan]

Rob: Thank you. It didn't even occur to me that it would be on-line.