Milk (Gus Van Zant, 2008)

OK, like SPOILERS, already!

I entered this film having very high expectations and not a lot of faith that Gus Van Zant would make things right in his telling of the story of the life and times of Harvey Milk. Milk made history when he was elected on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to obtain public office. While I admire a few of Van Zant’s early works, I haven’t been wholly impressed with his recent string of films. The last film I can remember being fairly enthusiastic about was Elephant, and that had its share of flaws.

But Van Zant’s newest effort emerges as a moving and inspiring narrative on the subject of gay rights activism in America, creating an important film on this particular aspect of the civil rights movement. It achieves this aim by presenting viewers a filmic journal on the life of Harvey Milk. Sean Penn’s performance isn’t merely a caricature of this courageous individual. As Penn sometimes achieves in his best work, he becomes Milk without falling prey to method acting clichés. Josh Brolin is outstanding and wholly understated in his portrayal of Supervisor Dan White, a complicated and conflicted individual charged with the murders of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978.

The film moves along nicely and clocks in at a little over two hours. The narrative is as concerned with the San Francisco Supervisor’s life as it is with the advancements of various civil rights victories that were won on Milk’s watch. Van Zant accesses a variety of visual styles and includes vintage footage of protest marches, archival broadcasts and interviews (including several wicked witch of the east Anita Bryant speeches), unlawful and brutal arrests, and Milk’s candlelight vigil. The director does a good bit of shooting on location in San Francisco’s Castro District, the heart of the city’s gay rights movement in the 1970’s. Great performances and a focused narrative embedded in a collage-style structure provides this film with an immediacy and honesty suitable for its honorable subject.

Great review Phillip! This has been on my "must see' list for a few weeks now. I'll probably have to wait for DVD but I generally like Van Sant's work anyway.

i think you'll like it, alex. it's a really well made film, the best thing van zant has done in years. the film narrative really holds together, and he's telling a great story.

I really look forward to this one...although I'll probably have to wait for the dvd as well.

'The Times of Harvey Milk' (1984) is a great documentary I got from Netflix about a year ago. I'd never even heard of the man before then. Such an inspiring, yet sad, story.

yeah, that early documentary is good, and very informative. if you've seen it, you'll appreciate how accurate the new film is...

i agree 100% with your review, Phillip. I haven't been so impressed with the acting in a film overall, and I'm not just referring to Sean Penn, although I thought he gave an amazing performance. Every character was portrayed equally well. I got worried when the voice-over started, but even that was much better done than similar devices in other movies. I'm so glad this film was made.

Havent decided it I want to go see it yet.

I remember the fall of 1978 as a strange time for those of us who grew up near the bay area. It was one shock after another and it all brings back ugly memories.

First there was the Jonestown mass suicide in Guyana where many bay area residents perished and representative Leo Ryan was murdered. A few weeks later Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Milk also murdered. Then there was that ridiculous Tweenkie defense then the riots.
I cant believe its been 30 years.

I might try to go see Milk in the theater this weekend. It's not very often I see a movie in the theater anymore, but I'm psyched to see this.

go for it, rob! it's worth seeing on the big screen. i think seeing it on the big screen really makes all the public rallies come alive...

and, i hear you manuel, those were very difficult times here in northern california. but the film gives you hope, as i think it intends to do...so it helps to see those times in a more positive light.

Sorry to nitpick, but isn't it Gus Van Sant?

That said, yeah, I totally loved the movie. It was inspiring and moving. Sean Penn was amazing and brilliant, and Brolin was great (there was a Cleve Jones interview in which he talked about how Brolin was so good that Jones's got shivers when Brolin first walked onto the set in character).

And the talk about Anita Bryant totally reminded me of how much I loved Tales of the City.

Gus Van Zant....i stand corrected. forgive my errant spacing...or lack of spacing.

I don't know why, but I was actually disappointed in Milk. Maybe it's because I remember the real story so vividly. What was inspiring about the movie for me was the story, but I didn't think the movie added much to it. I don't know.

I do agree that Sean Penn and Josh Brolin were outstanding.

well a movie is a movie, and real life is.....

Jean wrote: "What was inspiring about the movie for me was the story, but I didn't think the movie added much to it. I don't know."

Well, probably not, but one of the points of the movie, imho, was to help spread the message, and I do think a movie is one of the best mediums to do so...

Good point Alex. Not everyone remembers Milk. And a movie is definitely a great way to spread the word.

Manuel wrote: "Havent decided it I want to go see it yet.

I remember the fall of 1978 as a strange time for those of us who grew up near the bay area. It was one shock after another and it all brings back ugly m..."

Manuel wrote: "Havent decided it I want to go see it yet.

I remember the fall of 1978 as a strange time for those of us who grew up near the bay area. It was one shock after another and it all brings back ugly m..."

As an aging Dyke activist, I was also reluctant to see the movie. What I discovered when I saw it with a group of friends, was that I have had thirty years for the events to become history. Let's face it: We all know how it ends. I was annoyed that they kept the part of Harvey's sentence that says "My name is Harvey Milk and I'm here to recruit you" but left out the rest: "to Register and Vote and Claim Our Gay Political Power." That was the important part of the sentence.

The saddest part for me was right at the beginning. Back when men & women arrested in gay bars had their names, pictures, addresses, places of employment printed in the papers. I remember suicides from back then.

This is a really decent presentation of the parts of the story not covered by "The Times of Harvey Milk".
Shame it does not mention that Diane Feinstein spent most of her first and second term in office reversing most of the progress made by George Moscone and Harvey Milk, It is especially important that it be seen by the Gays & Lesbians born after this happened, or too young to know the story. Harvey reminded us all to Vote, to seize the political power that voting brings. It also might just interest them in reading Gay & Lesbian History, so they stop assuming the struggles are over.

hey stephy,

thanks for the great insights and your inclusion of other aspects of the "untold story". i moved here (SF) in 1979, right after this went down, and yeah, what feinstein did "for" the city was atrocious on numerous counts.

it's funny how history can be eclipsed and younger people have no idea of the kind of conditions people lived in a mere generation or two earlier...that's why it's so important to read, catch films, however you get your info - but to understand how any freedom you might have was fought for - and to remember that those freedoms are not set in stone and can go away at the drop of a hat (or with the election of mad politicians.....no need to name names...all their hands are dirty).

Phillip wrote: "but to understand how any freedom you might have was fought for - and to remember that those freedoms are not set in stone and can go away at the drop of a hat"

Hm, isn't that what the feminists were saying about young women today? Though I do find the right's (successful) attempt to make feminism into a dirty word rather vile.

yeah, but we're living in an age of post-post-feminism. shows how behind the right wing is...
; )

...just heard a report recently on the rise of gold diggers - the new wave of dating sites dedicated to women who want to find wealthy men who can "pamper and take care of them...the way a woman should be taken care of".....

......my my....what would emma goldman say?

Merely external emancipation has made of the modern woman an artificial being. Now, woman is confronted with the necessity of emancipating herself from emancipation, if she really desires to be free.

-Emma Goldman

And on further thought, What kind of human beings are women who want to find wealthy men who can "pamper and take care of them...the way a woman should be taken care of" Who raised them? (Fundamentalist Christians?) Are they so un-evolved as to have no spine? Have they no self respect? How can they look themselves in the mirror? Who ARE these people?

I know there are people, male and female alike, who are looking to be supported forever in the manner to which they wish to become accustomed, My suspicion is that they get the partners they deserve.

stephy wrote:

"And on further thought, What kind of human beings are women who want to find wealthy men who can "pamper and take care of them...the way a woman should be taken care of" ....

********

exactly.
who are these creatures?
eternal infants?

Good review Philip,

I'm new and just catching up on topics here, and am just going to cut and paste my notes on movies to get started...

Sean Penn makes the world a better place. Why doesn't he have an Oscar for every role he's ever done? I had absolutely no idea about the real life Milk and I got right into this counter-culture story and learned a lot. I grew up and went to a school where two of my girlfriends would hold hands at a party. It's hard to believe so many people were grossed out by gays and lesbians back in the 60's. What a great coverage of the times, of this aspect of human rights revolution and what incredible characters these mad gay guys were. I felt like I knew them! Like saying "Streep is a good actress" I'm going to sound like an idiot again...this movie knocks your socks off. It's good to see Van Sant back at a fully rounded story arc. Score: 10/10.

Very good movie. Sean Penn should get Oscar for this and all his previous work.

As I said in another thread on Milk. I loved this movie.

Growing up in those times, I was busy burning my bra, marching for civil rights and marching against the war. In those days, there were so many rights being exploited that the gay rights movement was really a blur to me. It was a time where everything was considered deviant. It was a very sad time in history for America.

On an aside, I don't believe women have gotten there yet. We have changed a lot of things but our barriers are are still not down. Sorry guys, but we still have a long way to go.

Being a Lesbian Activist, and an early Feminist, raised my a woman who was raised by a Suffragette, I know that women have a long way to go. The truth is, until half the US Senate and US House of Representatives are women, half the Judges are women, and the same for each and every State in the Union, women will Not have reached very far. Having a few women in high places is a start, but not the destination. We still need the Equal Rights Amendment.

A the same time, I am frightened by seeing new generations of young Gay Men and Lesbians treated, in many communities, just as we were treated in the fifties and sixties. Slowly, that is changing in some places. Mostly in major cities it is changing. The rise of the Psuedo-Chrisrtian right has squashed a lot of the advances both women and Lesbians and Gay Men have made. But I've seen oppression. I am NOT going to live in a closet, ever.

October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Matt Sheperd was Murdered in Wyoming. On March 20, 2007, the Matthew Shepard Act (H.R. 1592) was introduced as federal bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Congress, sponsored by Democrat John Conyers with 171 co-sponsors. Matthew's parents, Judy and Dennis, were present at the introduction ceremony. The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 3, 2007. Similar legislation passed in the Senate on September 27, 2007 (S. 1105), but President Bush indicated he might veto the legislation if it reached his desk. He did veto the bill in 2007. Maybe it will finally pass now.

I'm still waiting for woman abuse and child abuse to be vigorously prosecuted everywhere. I won't even go into the topic of Civil Unions for all, and religious marriage for those who want it.

Sorry, Meg, we ALL still have a long way to go.

indeed. we ALL have a long way to go. injustices are commonplace. feminism, among other civil rights issues, took a few steps forward in the 60's and 70's, but seem to have been hit by a backlash of backward thinking.

i'm native american...i won't even go into the realm of how my culture has been driven into oblivion. (we once represented 100% of the population on these lands, now we represent 2%). sure, go ahead and cite all the casinos that are putting money back into the hands of various tribes that have them. but meth abuse, land rights abuse (land continues to be stolen from reservations, water and other natural resources are still taken from indian lands, the list goes on...) - there are countless issues that we have to work on.

sorry, i said i wouldn't get started....

so, no, by no means are we "free" yet from old constructs and mindsets that hold people everywhere from being free, from having inalienable rights.

on the other hand, i'm glad to be alive. there are so many wonderful things happening in the world, along with the bad. it would appear that it's always been that way.

My Mother was 1/4 Native American, and her grandmother told stories about their people being hunted down by Armies of "White People" throughout the decades. I grew up hearing those stories, as family stories, not as history. My mother told me everything they were teaching me in school was a big lie. I eventually learned she was pretty much correct. And I know this has in completely inapropos to a discussion about the film, _Milk_, but it bears saying.

I learned, while still young, that Europeans, theoretically "civilized" (In their own minds only,) were known to kill and rape and pillage native villages, and deliberately "gift" Native Peoples with Smallpox infected blankets.

We learned in School about brave Christopher Columbus (actually Cristobol Colon) discovering America, and Hernan Cortez and the "discovery" of Mexico, but nobody ever taught us that there were people from England and other European nations who practiced genocide on the Atlantic coast for decades, unchecked.

The first history I read, written about the "discovery" of American from a Native point of view was by Howard Zinn, in his _People's History of the United States_. It was first published in 1980, and has since been updated, and joined by later Zinn books as well as works by other historians.

Unfortunately, the lies are still being taught in many places. Paul Simon wrote "When I look back on all the crap I learned in High School, it's a wonder I can think at all." Masterpiece of understatement!

Have you read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown?

stephy - no, most schools don't teach "history"...it's bad PR.

anna, of course. it's a great read. essential reading.

Anna I read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown, back in 1970, when it was first published. For the first time, some of the stories of the betrayal of the Native People by the United states Government were revealed to a wide audience. It was a story of terrible times and evil people; and exploitation and elimination of many great cultures.

It confirmed all the stories of my family history, and coming when it did, convinced me that one of the major purposes of the government is to lie to people.

In most of my life, the Federal Government has treated "The People" like mushrooms - Keep us in the dark and feed us recycled horse food.

If I never hear Diane Feinstein's name again, it will suit me fine. Interesting that you call it back-stepping. I thought of it, at the time, as backstabbing. Come to think of it, I still do. She belongs in Orange County.

Milk got an Oscar for original srcipt and Sean Penn got Academy Award for best leading actor.

I heard Harvey give that speech several times, live and in person with my own ears. I may be old, but I haven't become addle-pated just yet.

Sean Penn earned that Oscar. He gave a very loving portrayal of a complicated man.

The media are editing his acceptance speech for "political content".
Silly stuff about human rights, no doubt.

stephy,
i'm with you. feinstein is straight out of stepford wives

i'm really glad milk did well at the academy, and that penn was acknowledged for his fine work.

i had a gig and missed the oscars. i'll have to try to check out his acceptance speech.

Stephy wrote: "Sean Penn earned that Oscar. He gave a very loving portrayal of a complicated man."

The person who did the Chinese subtitles for the film (who's also a pretty famous writer and film/art critic in Hong Kong) lived in San Francisco during the 70s. He said (in his column at Hong Kong's most popular newspaper) that watching the movie gave him chills, 'cause it was like Milk coming back alive.

Fascinating story, inspirational character, Sean Penn is brilliant ... I also think that Josh Brolin's performance was fab ... that's a 4 outa 5 Koala ratin' from this Aussie chick