The Silver Screen Captures The Past

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By Timothy Rubacky, Senior Vice President

A journey on the American Queen is a trip back in time but with all of today’s modern amenities. To transport yourself to the middle of the 19th century, you can just look around you at the Victorian finery of the world’s largest authentic steam-powered riverboat. The dining room is inspired by that on the famed J.M. White over which Mark Twain waxed rhapsodic. Genuine antiques grace our suites and public rooms. The overall look and feel of the exterior lines was not inspired by a modern vessel and then gussied up with some fancy details to have a hint of authenticity; the American Queen was carefully designed to have the same lay-out and deck space as the great boats from the heyday of Steamboating.

The music played on board spans the ages, but evokes life on the river from a bygone era. We strive to be authentic yet not kitschy.

However, the one thing we cannot replicate is the feeling of the populace 150 years ago or adequately show the details of what life was like and the challenges facing the Union as the steamboats reached their engineering pinnacle. It was a time of deep divisions in America and visiting battlefields from the Civil War gives a taste but is, of course, not the same as having lived in that era. The underlying purpose of this horrible war is sometimes lost in the telling of battlefield exploits.

That’s why I was drawn to the new film Lincoln which is playing now in theaters across the country. Directed by Steven Spielberg, it puts Daniel Day Lewis in the starring role and the resemblance is uncanny. I’m normally not a fan of biopics. Usually, the attempt to portray a real person in a movie, whether that person is living or dead, seems to fall short and turn into some sort of parody. At times, biographical movies can seem like an extended Rich Little routine.

But Lincoln is much different. It is intriguing, engaging and I was completely swept away by the honor of Abraham Lincoln as well as his many foibles that, in this portrayal, made him human. For a brief time, I was transported thoroughly and completely into the past. The emotions of the 19th century stirred the same feelings in me as I sat in that darkened theater in the 21st century. An epic score by John Williams, one of my favorite composers and one of the most respected men in Hollywood, lifts the spirit.

And for once, I agree with the critics. “Lincoln is a grave and surprisingly subtle magic trick,” wrote Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune, “conjuring the past and an almost ridiculously impressive figure in ways that transcend art direction and the right stovepipe hat. Director Steven Spielberg's latest combines the most commonly shared notions we have of our 16th U.S. president — the folksy deliberation, the spindly gait, the all-seeing eye on the prize of history remade — with the behavior, idiosyncrasies and contradictions of an actual human being. It blends cinematic Americana with something grubbier and more interesting than Americana, and it does not look, act or behave like the usual perception of a Spielberg epic. It is smaller and quieter than that.”

“There is pomp, yes, and the historical circumstance could scarcely be more formidable,” Phillips explained. “Based on parts of the Doris Kearns Goodwin book Team of Rivals, "Lincoln" focuses tightly on the final four months of its subject's life and his political maneuvering in support of the 13th Amendment's abolition of slavery, just as the Civil War was grinding to a close.”

Anyone who is a student of the Civil War should see this film and, in fact, it is time well spent by anyone who has an interest in how difficult it was to rid the country of the scourge of slavery. I encourage history buffs not just to see this movie, but to sail with us on a Civil War voyage in 2013. Lincoln sets the stage to appreciate the story behind the stories of the bloodiest war in America’s history in a way that few films have been able to.