The Better Angels

In thoughtful movies that rely on dialog and story rather than CGI, sex and violence, there's an opportunity to craft meaningful character studies. The Better Angels forgoes the flash, even filming in black and white. The problem is, they didn't develop any characters. Particularly young Lincoln. Nothing happens. No one changes, except maybe Lincoln's father a little. The viewer slogs through the boredom of frontier life without any insight into young Lincoln. I don't need to see people shot, stabbed and punched. I don't need to see gratuitous sex or colorful explosions, flashy costumes or lively music. But if you're going to make a movie about an historical character, there has to be a story told that shapes the boy into a man. This movie is little more than a black and white home movie where NOTHING happens. Four stars is probably generous.

"The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." Abe Lincoln

If writer-director A. J. Edwards wanted to show in his biopic, The Better Angels, the influence of angelic women on young Abe Lincoln, he succeeded. This minimalist, dialogue-spare depiction of Lincoln's early life in the woods of Indiana is rife with beautiful shots of trees and sunlight, not to mention a pristine cabin, but mostly it is filled with the love and direction given by Nancy (Brit Marling) and Sarah Lincoln (Diane Kruger).

Not much to do out there in the frontier but cut wood and think about ways to be a better human being. While the women chat with Abe about life, Tom Lincoln (Jason Clarke), his dad, contributes a considerable amount to Abe's tough mindedness, largely by testing Abe's patience with dad's harsh discipline.

While this less-than-epic activity occurs, it is encased in gorgeous photography, black and white crisp, with light streaming through tall trees, frequently at low angle to emphasize the child's point of view. You could almost say it's a copy of Terrence Malick's work, and you'd be right because the ethereal cinematography of that master (Tree of Life, Badlands, for example) no doubt influenced Edwards, whose film is produced by Malick and with whom he has worked.

On the other hand, the poetic images could be off putting for those who accuse Malick of being pretentious or just interested in painting rather than telling a story. I go where a director wants to take me—in this case, to a lyrical feeling about the early life of an immortalized leader.

Although The Better Angels is mostly impressionism, symbolic shots couched in terse language, be it by actors or voice-over, the picture of young Abe up to his rural schooling seems spot on for the intense, brilliant, iconic president we have come to know. I'm impressed.

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother" Abe Lincoln

I was excited to see this movie after watching the mysterious-looking trailer, but I must say I wasn't very impressed and have a lot of mixed emotions in regard to it. The first 20-30 minutes of the film reminded me somewhat of a horror movie. The style of the production was super dark-toned and the music sounded like what you hear before something super terrible is about to happen. To make the vibe so creepy made it very uncomfortable and difficult to watch. On top of that, there isn't much dialogue. So, if you aren't familiar with Lincoln's life, you'd be lost throughout the entire film considering there are no explanations whatsoever. Abraham barely spoke, nor did he even seem to have much of a personality through the whole film, which was disappointing to watch. One thing I did enjoy and believe to be very clever was the scene of the field of cows, where one is lying dead. I thought it was a very good foreshadow for what was to come a few scenes afterwards. Also, regardless of the lack of dialogue, it is easy to tell that Abraham loved both his mothers and step-mother. That was a beautiful thing to watch unfold. The first couple of scenes feature a narrative voice which I assumed to be Abraham's. I'm still not clear on if it was his voice or his cousin's voice who we meet later on, but regardless, the voice was very inaccurate to me. It was very southern, and Abraham Lincoln's voice has never been described as southern. It is more high-pitched and Midwestern, like Daniel Day-Lewis's voice for him in Spielberg's Lincoln (2012). The word "pappy" was used to describe Thomas Lincoln a few times, and I really can't imagine Abraham calling his father that. Pappy is too endearing, and it is far too southern sounding. They did a somewhat decent job on historical accuracy. Lincoln's relationship with his dad is accurate seeing as they were never close, but it seems unhealthier than what's been depicted in other Lincoln films, like John Cromwell's Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940), where there's one scene of his father making a comment about Abraham reading. In this one, there's a scene where Thomas grabs Abraham by the collar and sort of drags him. I've also never heard anything about the Lincoln family taking in a boy to live with them, so that was odd as well. I had hopes for it seeing this considering there aren't any other films depicting Abraham Lincoln as a child the whole way through. But overall, I would not recommend someone to watch this. There are plenty of other movies on Lincoln that are much more enjoyable to watch, and a lot more can be learned from them.

The Better Angels, directed and scripted by A.J Edwards was produced in 2014. The film captures the young life of historical figure Abraham Lincoln. And though the film follows Lincoln specifically, A.J Edwards directs the film in a way that doesn't directly correspond to Lincoln automatically, rather the film is directed to illustrate childhood in its entirely based on the time period. Director A.J Edwards does although follow the basic life story of Abraham Lincoln fairly accurate; his father's imposed importance of labor over studies, his mother's tragic death, his close relationship he forms with his stepmother and his personal interests with wrestling and reading. All in all the film never once take on a defiant position to illustrate Lincoln's life, in which is demonstrated through the films subtly. The film focuses more on the defining details of rural America and only hitts to the connection and correlation they have towards Lincoln's life. The film although about Lincoln's young childhood, could also be about the influence women figures had on Lincoln's upbringing. In which I would argue this film captures perfectly, through the lack of dialogue and through the love and guidance his mother and step mother give him. Adding to this, the films black and white appears as well as the films selective sporadic editing choice highlight that this film is a series of memories that form all of Lincoln's childhood. Edwards did a wonderful job illustrating the life of a legend who was also just another average boy from Indiana, I would definitely recommend the film.

My first opinion for this movie is that it has beautiful cinematography by having the screen move in different directions and having a variety of shots. Even though it is in black and white, I find that the movie captures the lighting and darkness really well. The sounds effects for the movie is really amplified for example the crunching of the leaves or birds chirping, likewise for the soundtrack it made the movie more calming and beautiful with the violin or piano playing. The movie didn't have a lot of dialogue beside the narrator's voice of Abraham. It didn't sound like him either since it was more southern and not as high pitched. A better representation of Abraham's voice could be Daniel Day-Lewis's in Spielberg's Lincoln (2012) which is more high-pitched. I also find that the movie also explains Abraham Lincoln's life and his relationships with his family and friends very accurately, which the movie centers more on the interactions with his mother, step mother, and father. The actor that played Abraham didn't seem to show much emotions or show any personality traits throughout the movie for example, there was a lot of scenes that just focuses on his face with no emotions. Overall, I don't usually watch a black and white movie however, I enjoyed watching this since it was entertaining and wasn't dull or tedious to watch.