9/14/2012

In the Lincoln movie trailer...

... the Mary character says to the Abe character, "No one is more loved by the American people than you."

Of course Mary Lincoln was committed to a mental institution, but one doubts she was crazy enough to utter those words. Ask Larry Tagg.

The overall feel of the trailer was hinting at DeMille or DW Griffith, IMHO, with all the visionary or masterpiece elements removed. Lots of night scenes and really loud musical strokes to underline the Seriously Dramatic snippets of dialog.

Some insight into the Goodwin element here:
According to Spielberg, Goodwin's entire book about Lincoln's presidency is "much too big" for a film, but the director said that the film will focus in on the last few months of Lincoln's life, the ending of slavery, and the Union victory in the Civil War. "What permanently ended slavery was the very close vote in the House of Representatives over the Thirteenth Amendment - that story I'm excited to tell," said Spielberg. [...]

Screenwriter Kushner reportedly spent six years writing the screenplay, saying he was very interested in "the relationship of Lincoln to the abolitionist left."
Goodwin's meme and content seem to have been sidelined.