BIG SCREEN LINCOLN

DECADE AGO I wrote for about as a turning point in Hollywood’s long relationship with the Civil War. In 1989, the film introduced millions of viewers to black Union soldiers and anticipated a cinematic turn toward emancipationist narratives. Steven Spielberg’s and Timur Bekmambet of’s , both released in 2012, interpret the 16th president in ways that reflect and reinforce the current ascendency of the emancipation cause memory of the conflict. Daniel Day-Lewis’ transcendent performance in , which earned him an Oscar, virtually assures the film’s continuing relevance to popular conceptions of the war.