DVD REVIEWS

LINCOLN

(out of four) Neither the title-implied biopic nor an assault on the tear ducts, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln serves history by favouring background over foreground. Daniel Day-Lewis’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the 16th U.S. president is grounded on the complex humanity of the man, one forced by circumstances to deal not only with epochal national concerns — slavery and the Civil War — but also pressing family ones. His Abraham Lincoln is grey of hair and beard, walks with a slight stoop and speaks in a higher register than our mind’s ear may wish to hear. He’s capable of thunder — we see glimpses — but he frequently comes across as timorous, in his dealings not only with political foes and allies but also with his high-strung wife Mary (Sally Field) and headstrong son Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Scripted by Tony Kushner (TV’s Angels in America, Spielberg’s Munich) the film loosely adapts Doris Kearns Goodwin’s nonfiction bestseller Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. It finds focus in the marrying of high principles with low politics. Extras include multiple makingof featurettes.

LES MISÉRABLES

An assault to the senses, Tom Hooper’s follow-up to The King’s Speech should be thought of as The Ka-ching’s Screech. Multiplexes have been filled by this latest of many iterations of Victor Hugo’s 150-year-old drama of post-Revolution 19th-century France. Just one accolade was truly de- served. It’s the Best Supporting Actress Oscar received by Anne Hathaway for her brief turn as ill-fated Fantine, the single mom who turns prostitute to save her child. Hathaway’s quavering soprano take on “I Dreamed a Dream,” the film’s one true show-stopper, is also the rare moment when the film seems more blessed than bombastic. She momentarily justifies Hooper’s much-ballyhooed decision to have his players — which also include Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried — warble straight to his camera, without resorting to overdubs and other sonic tricks. This is a sungthrough musical that is also intended to be suffered through. Extras include a director’s commentary and several making-of featurettes. Peter Howell