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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fine treatment of a somewhat neglected aspect of Lincoln, June 17, 2004
It has often been observed that Abraham Lincoln has been enshrined to the point of deification. During the recent Ronald Reagan obsequies, rituals laden with religious references, we the television viewers were treated again & again to images of the Lincoln Memorial, as though Lincoln himself were some sort of national demigod to whom proper deference must be rendered from time to time. All this has served to strip away much of Lincoln's humanity, to the point that we find it hard to believe that he was, just as most of us are, an ordinary spouse & parent, trying to balance the demands of home with the demands of work.This documentary helps to remind us of that side of Lincoln, as we see the young ambitious lawyer/politician & his equally ambitious wife struggle to make a life together. It is a story, above everything else, of great personal loss (for both Abraham & Mary Lincoln), and at times it makes this documentary painful to watch. As one watches Abraham Lincoln cope the overwhelming stress of a wartime presidency, having already lost two children, one yearns for the time when Abraham & Mary Lincoln can finally, even for a little while, relax in retirement and enjoy each other's company once again, without the demands of the office to distract them. Despite knowing it never did happen, I found myself feeling this way. Of course, the story takes the viewer through to a marriage ended by murder & a subsequent emotional collapse. It is exhausting to watch. The documentary provides a great amount of detail. Some have complained that one sees the same images of the Lincolns over and over again, although I would think that after "The Civil War," people would be used to seeing an unending series of still photos on the television screen. It comes with the territory, and unless you want actors dramatizing the life of the Lincolns, you really have little choice in presentation. My only objection with the documentary is that it is a little too sympathetic at times. For example, the fact that the Lincolns were not particularly good parents is overlooked. Even in the best of times, Robert Lincoln's relationship with his parents was ambivalent, and was sometimes downright chilly. Tad Lincoln, on the other hand, was so spoiled and overindulged that by the time he was around 12, he was a virtual illiterate because his parents didn't have the heart to make him attend to his studies. One gets no sense of this in the documentary. Everyone loves a happy ending, but unfortunately there really isn't one to be found here. However, the saddest tales generally are the ones that leave the most lasting impact. One cannot watch this story without being deeply moved.
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DVD ~ Richard Easton
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