NEW ULM – The New Ulm Film Society’s next screening will take the audience back to a time when America was more divided than ever and how the right man at the right time reunited it.

The film is 2012’s “Lincoln” and is the fifth movie in the film society’s Steven Spielberg director series.

The screening is at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March. 10 at the New Ulm Public Library.

“Lincoln” is one of the handful of Spielberg-directed films that is based on actual events. In this case, the movie tackles the final months of President Abraham Lincoln’s life as he works to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the United States and bring the Civil War to an end.

Spielberg got the idea to make a film about Abraham Lincoln in 1999 after working with historian Doris Kearns. Kearns was consulting on a film with Spielberg and told him she was writing a book about Lincoln called “Team of Rivals.” Spielberg immediately asked for the film rights.

He would spend the next decade researching everything he could about Lincoln. Many of the background details in the film are accurate down to the wallpaper in the president’s office, even the ticking of Lincoln’s watch.

The film also went through several rewrites as Spielberg changed the focus of the story, but each version was partially inspired by Kearn’s book, which focused on Lincoln’s political genius and his ability to accomplish difficult goals despite heavy opposition. Several members of Lincoln’s cabinet had been rivals for the presidency in 1860, but he found a way to work with them. Some of his rivals, such as Secretary of State William Seward (played by David Stratharim), even grew to respect Lincoln. 

This makes “Lincoln” a unique interpretation of the 16th president. Instead of portraying him as perfectly honest and morally perfect, it shows him as a cunning politician capable of spinning the truth when needed. 

In Lincoln’s efforts to pass the 13th Amendment, he was required to work with people who opposed him on nearly every other aspect of Government. On one side he has Democratic lawmakers who are sympathetic to the Confederacy and on the other side radical Republicans that want more than an end to slavery, but the establishment of equal rights for all. 

One of the staunches radical Republicans is Congressman Thadeus Stevens (played by Tommy Lee Jones) who has deep vested interest in abolishing slavery. Steven does not particularly like Lincoln because he has been slow to end slavery, but is willing to work with the president if it brings about a greater good.

Early in the movie, Lincoln uses a metaphor of a compass to explain his methods. He said a good compass will point a person to true north, but has no advice on how to avoid a swamp.

“If in pursuit of your destination you plunge ahead heedless of obstacles, and achieve nothing more than to sink in a swamp…what’s the use of knowing true north?” Lincoln asks.

In order to steer the country towards emancipation, Lincoln and his allies are forced to walk a narrow path and avoid pitfalls. It also involved persuading others to act against the regular character through coercion or outright bribery.

When “Lincoln” was released in 2012, many critics commented the film was structured like a “heist film.” The president and his allies assemble a team to pull off an elaborate scheme, but instead of stealing a diamond or robbing an armored car, they convince Congress to abolish slavery.

This is the rare film about political scheming and shady back dealing that comes in favor of the schemers. 

Lincoln’s political ability even extends to his family. Lincoln’s son Robert (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) wants to enlist in the Union Army, his mother, Mary Lincoln (played by Sally Field) is against it and the president is caught in the middle trying to find to make both happy. Though it is a small part of the film, it does reflect Spielberg’s favorite trope of father-son dynamics.

One of the hardest parts of making the film was casting Lincoln. Spielberg’s first choice was Daniel Day-Lewis, but it took years to convince Lewis to take on the part. Lewis would go on to win an Oscar for his performance of Lincoln.

Lewis is famously a method actor. He worked hard to get into the mind of Lincoln and rarely broke character while on set. He would later say that in playing Lincoln that he never felt more depth of love for a person than Abraham Lincoln.

“Lincoln” is an unusual biographical film in that it does not try to glorify its main characters as an angel or mythical hero, but rather depict him as a real person struggling with some of the most consequential decisions in history. In the end it is because Lincoln is so human that he is still the standard for what a statesman should be.

The New Ulm Film Society’s screening of “Lincoln” is free to the public. Before and after the film, there will be a discussion about the movie’s place in film history.