The Conspirator

I had the pleasure of viewing this film at a press screening recently, as well as hearing an interesting Q&A afterwords. I was very impressed with this film.

I've read extensively about the topic of the Lincoln assassination, and came into the theatre expecting another Hollywood style period piece, one that minces facts and creates story lines where there are none. I came out feeling very contented, and a little teary. This movie is very well acted and truly conveys the emotion felt by the characters in history, unlike some civil war films.

This movie truly is about the struggle between justice and country. I won't give much away, but the emotional conflicts in this film are very deep and strong. I was very surprised at James Mcavoy's handling of the character, and more so his good American accent :D. Robin Wright and other supporting cast are also superb. Do see this movie when it comes out! It's a fantastic drama that will keep you at the edge of your seat, mixed in with fantastic period details. Any fan of American history and the civil war will enjoy this.

With the release of The Conspirator director Robert Redford hopes to be making more films like this which he says are historically accurate. At least by Redford's interpretation of historical events and the one he picked is still being picked over by many historians of the Civil War and Reconstruction period.

This film focuses on the trial and aftermath of the Lincoln assassination and most particularly on Mary Surratt at whose boardinghouse in Washington, DC, John Wilkes Booth and his curious band of conspirators met and plotted. One of those was Mary's son John who was the only one to escape apprehension.

The villain in the film is Secretary Of War Edwin M. Stanton played by Kevin Kline. It was not hard for him to do what he did, he certainly had public approval. The assassinated president Abe Lincoln had suspended the right of habeas corpus during the war, so this trial by military tribunal was not an unforeseeable step that Stanton would take. It is important to remember that at the time we actually were at war with Confederate Armies still in the field. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox five days before the assassination, but Joe Johnston was in the field and when it is announced that the last Confederate Armies have surrendered the day of the hanging, they are referring to Richard Taylor's troops in Texas.

James McAvoy is a young army veteran and lawyer who becomes Mary Surratt's lawyer. In the end he believes in her innocence, but the forces of vengeance are too much for him to overcome. And while Surratt might not have been as innocent as the film makes out, no case beyond reasonable doubt was proved at least by the rules of any civil trial that should have taken place.

The film really belongs to Robin Wright as the implacable and fatalistic Mary Surratt. She definitely merits some Oscar consideration next year. Up there on the screen she becomes everyone's mother and one wonders about Johnnie Simmons as John Surratt seen in flashback as to why he isn't coming to the plate on this.

Perhaps because even Stanton was afraid of public opinion if two Surratt women were in custody on trial for their lives daughter Anna Surratt played by Evan Rachel Wood was never charged. She must have had some knowledge of what was going on. One aspect of the story I think Redford missed and I'm surprised as he's an actor and matinée idol back in the day himself. John Wilkes Booth though his southern sympathies were well known though his plotting a secret, was the great matinée idol of his day. And he certainly attracted his fair share of what would be called groupies back in the day. I think he probably favored Anna Surratt and certainly John Surratt was glad to be included in his entourage. Put in those terms the relationship becomes clearer.

Still Redford has crafted a justly well received film and it will no doubt lead to talk about the rights of the accused of the worst kind of crimes.

I was reluctant to see "The Conspirator" because it has racked up a critical consensus of a kind I dislike: the film is said to be cold-hearted, and to make political points with a heavy hand. Neither of these, happily, turns out to be true. The film is utterly impassioned, and its interest for today is nicely noted without being too underlined. Nearly every element one wants in a great film is there: visual beauty, strong acting, fine pacing, stirring and well-made music. But there is a flaw. The creators have taken their creation too seriously. There's not a shaft of levity or humor anywhere. A requirement for great art is thereby missed. It doesn't matter how somber the subject is supposed to be. King Lear has his fool; even Wagner's ultra-dark Ring cycle has its powerful currents of humor. It's got to be there; otherwise, the whole organism suffers. I think this is the weakness to which reviewers have responded, even if none of them has precisely named it. On that ground, the film falls short of greatness; but in every other respect it approaches or achieves greatness. "The Conspirator" is hugely recommendable and I will certainly see it again.

Saw the film today, I was very impressed. Yes somethings looked wrong (mostly uniform items) but on the whole a job well done. Great film locations and acting. James MacAvoy follows his outstanding performance in Last King of Scotland with a tour de force. Robin Wright plays her role just right. Kevin Kline's performance might be my favorite of his ever. Outstanding period feel with great on site shooting at homes in Savannah, GA. Got the impression that at least the film company made a serious effort to get the look right. The Q and A after the screen I attended really highlighted the efforts they put into the film to get it right. Noted historian James McPherson was a consultant strongly recommended film when it comes out on April 15th.

"The Conspirator" is an impossible trial to win, but it's tried by the best cast in the best manner possible. Heroes returned home from the Civil War to be greeted by the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton (Kevin Kline) and other high-profile members of the War Department. President Abraham Lincoln was occupied elsewhere.

After the assassination of Lincoln, we follow not so much the trials of the conspirators, but the trials of lawyer Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy). McAvoy has quickly forged an incredible career where he has a propensity to play the man next to historical figures and provide us with an inside view (like the doctor to Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland" or secretary to Leo Tolstoy in "The Last Station").

Here, McAvoy is the very patriotic soldier-turned-lawyer defending Mary Surrat (Robin Wright), the lone female conspirator. The film focuses only on Surrat's part of the trial of the conspirators, mostly because this film is about her lawyer. A devout supporter of Stanton and the Union, Aiken believed that Surrat was guilty and spent just as much time proving her guilt as her innocence. His internal struggles accepting everything that he had to do and what he should do were rather profound. I also think they make up McAvoy's best performance of his career. Too bad that the Academy will have forgotten it by the time the Oscars come around.

Like the best historical dramas, Redford never comes out and says if he believes that Surrat was innocent or guilty. "The Conspirator" isn't about that. This is about the trial. His views on the use of a military tribunal versus a civil trial are clear.

I was blown away by the impeccable production, the cast, and the sheer atrocities committed by so many of the characters not on trial. There may have been a few artistic licences taken, but I doubt it was with the extremes to which some military personnel will go. The great Kevin Kline and the up-and-coming Johnny Simmons play the two least sympathetic characters in the movie. Phenomenal casting is just one the great aspects of "The Conspirator".