Customer Reviews

Lincoln

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Lincoln is probably one of the toughest individuals to grasp. Once you think you have him understood, something else about him comes out of the woodwork to make him more elusive.

Interestingly, this production allows us further insight to him in a unique, dark perspective at times. This production probably isn't correctly named as it's not about Lincoln in the complete form, but it takes a much darker, closeted approach to explaining the man.

I think many people were taken back a bit by this production and were expecting something lighter, more cheerful and triumphant about Lincoln but instead this film is the opposite. I can't say it was totally negative, it just offered strange, unusual insight and possibilities to this complex character. What this show tried to convey was just how some of Lincoln's motivations, considerations and mind state were developed from earlier boyhood years and dealing with depression.

I wasn't too keen on some of the considerations of Lincoln and possible suicidal tendencies. Unfortunately, this production focused a lot on negative things about Lincoln shading him in a dark shroud with shocking misery. It does offer interesting perspective, but the opinions stated are simply that. Opinions without fact. I know Lincoln had issues and had a lot of carry on his shoulders throughout life although I don't think he was so distraught, fearing and suicidal as this documentary portrays.

Being a historian one can often find themselves focusing on one particular historic event. Lincoln's life, Presidency and death just happens to be mine. This biography is very well organized and deep in detail. Lincoln is painted in a whole different light then what most are used to. For the first time historians and authors of Lincoln Biographies talk about his depression, his marriage to Mary Todd, and how he got started in politics. It's an amazing documentary which I would highly recommend especially for the classroom. If you want to get your students attention about the Civil War, Lincoln and history show them this documentary. You will not be disappointed.

The History Channel's LINCOLN mixes fact with innuendo, gossip and smear.

Abraham Lincoln's sexual identity is questioned because he shared an illness (depression) and thus a friendship with Joshua Speed. It's implied in this documentary that their several surviving correspondences were love letters, although nothing within these texts even hints at carnality. Much is made of Speed offering to share his bed when Lincoln had no place to sleep. Further casually presented "proof" is an unsubstantiated allegation that the President was caught asleep at the Soldier's Home in D.C. accompanied by a captain, who was wearing Lincoln's nightshirt at the time.

Yet, we have conflicting stories of opposite behavior.
It's suggested that soon after ending his first engagement with Mary, Abe visits a riverside madam. He haggles her price down and when they're finished, she makes it a "freebie," proving (in the opinion of a commenter) the man's absolute charm and thus a good reason he was later elected president!!!

The First Lady (Mary) is said to have furnished her lavish Washington lifestyle with bribes and kickbacks. No definitive documentation given here either, beyond a nice coat of tar.

Our main theme is a lifelong melancholia that first manifested at age nine after young Abe saw his mother suffer for a week and die from tainted milk. His father reportedly slapped the boy around and rented him out as slave labor. A conclusion is made that herein lies the source of Abraham's hatred of this "peculiar institution." No mention at all of his ambivalent remarks on the slavery issue. After every major battle, the President is said to have talked of suicide or wished for death. No specific references given, although this seems quite possible. Those thousands of dead surely weighed heavily on the Chief Executive.

More tabloid stuff: Grieving Lincoln regularly visited son Willie's mausoleum and opened the casket to see his boy's face. Somehow I missed that in Carl Sandburg's many books on this great man.

Sensationalism aside, this over two-hour presentation is not free of minor naccuracies. For one, Gore Vidal describes the President's assassin as shooting him from behind with a revolver. In fact, John Booth's weapon was a two-shot derringer of no more than four-inches length. I saw this very pistol plus Lincoln's blood-stained clothes in the late 1970s, on display at Ford's Theater. Maybe Mr. Vidal missed that exhibit when he was researching his Lincoln novel?

I think most people agree that Lincoln was one of the best presidents in American History, if not the best. This DVD show what was the driving force behind his success and the difficulties he faced. I watched this DVD more than once. It's very interesting.

This documentary/commentary does not attempt to cover all the life of the unfathomable man, Lincoln. No one can "explain" Lincoln, just as we cannot explain the Pacific Ocean or Shakespeare--they are too vast. Instead, the author of this devoted and insightful work opens an interesting door into one facet of this great and talented man's effect on history. Depression, and we actually know so little about it, may indeed have been a goad and a seeming obstacle that, in working through it, Lincoln became greater than he may have been without suffering this condition. Or, to put it another way, Lincoln's tendency to depression may have been both the foundation and the whip which comprised his genius.

Did not expect this unusual presentation of our beloved President, Lincoln, both to please -- and inform. However, despite its general tone of sobriety, I laughed out loud once, at Gore Vidal's unforgetable zinger re our belated folly aka War of Terrorism.
Other reasons to purchase & watch: while over-wrought with analysis of Lincoln's alleged melancholia, some psychological commentary on both Mary and her husband enlightens this protrayal of an extremely & complex great man.
The 2-part film ends with apt summary of his life as Visionary and Poet, Lincoln's precious, perhaps requisite gifts to a nation undergoing the most "bloody war in human history" at that time -- inside its own borders.
Entering the context of his biography - place names and friends, his poignant early losses of women he loves (mother, Anne Rutledge), his circuit-riding law practise and fisticuffs political career in Illinois -- all endear, along with his scholarly fan club's interwoven comments.
Thanks to the History Channel for this contribution.

While I am not a fan of Vidal and a lot of his political views; I was skeptical going into the film, but I found myself glued to the screen after the first 3 minutes. I come from a family and extended family that is run strife with depression, mental instability, and sexual addiction. I know first hand what it can do to a family and to a man. I also know the most incredible triumphs of the human spirit can come from the most seemingly debilitating situations. 2 of the greatest men I know struggle daily with depression and sexual addiction. They have both accepted their problems, deal with them, and have found ways to make them better fathers, brothers, husbands, and men. I know that as a conservative we don't like to hear that arguably the greatest President we have ever had struggled with severe depression, possible homosexuality, and suicidal tendencies, but I think it's an important discussion. Too often we are dismissive of ideas that are out of the box that we have known as history. It's almost a form of cognitive dissonance. We want to remember Lincoln as one of the greatest Presidents, Statesman, and man in American History, but we only want that if it fits into our "box". Unfortunately that's not reality. I have read some of the reviews about this documentary and while I understand some of the complaints it is important to point out that the film does not say that Lincoln was a "loser" as one critic put it because he was severely depressed; in fact they do a wonderful job explaining how that depression was a constant struggle and how Lincoln was able to fight through an almost insurmountable disease when his country needed him most and how this struggle enabled him to deal with this nation hold this Union together in the most difficult time this country has ever seen. Some of the critics are also upset that it discussed a theory that Lincoln was a homosexual, but it never says he is a homosexual it only says he POSSIBLY could have been. They do a very good job of explaining why and an even better job explaining why these rumors were out there in the first place, and the difference between that generation and our generations perception of sexuality. That generation did not put the same emphasis on sexuality that we do. We give it a primary emphasis in today's society while they put it secondary, and that is exactly why we question his actions and that generation may have thought nothing of it. Sharing a bed with another man was commonplace and didn't make someone a homosexual then, but we hear that now and obviously we jump to conclusions. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a possibility. Besides it is definitely not the films focus...it's merely 5 min of 140 min.

I believe it is important to have this discussion this film creates; especially considering how badly we have interpreted history and some of our former Presidents agendas...ie...Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, FDR and so on. As a conservative with an open mind and acceptance that great men make terrible mistakes and may have an "embarrassing" issue or disease but are still able to overcome then; makes me respect someone like Lincoln even more. I think it's important for our children to know you can make mistakes and have faults and still be GREAT!

Done in an MTV-like style, and accentuating the negative, this program will do little to give insight into Lincoln's greatness. In fact, you will come away thinking he was a loser. Mary Lincoln is similarly lambasted.

The documentary jumps back and forth with no apparent continuity or reason. In addition, many of the commentators are either openly hostile towards Lincoln, or are high-handed and eliteist.

Unwanted political/religious opinion from Gore Vidal also leaves one with a nasty taste in one's mouth. This should have been left on the cutting-room floor, having no place in this discussion.

Zero stars would be more fitting.

Get a copy of "A House Divided - Abraham and Mary Lincoln" from PBS - you will be better informed and genuinely touched.

Avoid this pap at all costs.

I really like this video because it shows you the internal struggles he overcame.

It is very informative. I found it to be very inspiring.

Abraham Lincoln will always be a special American President and this video exemplifies this in great detail.

I lost almost all credibility of The History Channel after airing this hatchet job. For starters, the various editing techniques make you feel like you're watching "The Blair Witch Project". Then Using crackpot "historians" such as Gore Vidal as their expert Lincoln scholars, this is not a balanced portrait of Lincoln, who is described as a manic depressive with homosexual tendancies. Please take the time to read Doris Kearns-Goodwin's book, "Team of Rivals". It may take longer to read but it least it is accurate. This DVD is 100 percent garbage. If I could give it no stars I certainly would have.