MILK

Recently, an amazingly successful political campaign was run on the platform of hope. Hope inspired, hope galvanized, and hope ultimately led to a change to the status quo. However, detractors are quick to point out that the notion of hope isn’t everything. For those, the retort was spoken some thirty years ago:

The important thing isn’t that we can live on hope alone, but that life is not worth living without it

The man who said that was Harvey Milk. Gus Van Sant’s new film, MILK, is the story of his life, and it’s one of the best movies of the year.

Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) was a relatively normal homosexual man living in 1970 New York. In search of a more accepting community, he and his partner Scott Smith (James Franco) move to San Francisco. There they settle into The Castro, an area quickly becoming the gay neighbourhood of the city. Milk decides to open a photography shop, Castro Camera, and make a life for himself as a small business owner. However, before he even opens his doors, a fellow business owner makes it clear to him that despite the growing scene, an openly gay business will not be accepted by the community.

This display of intolerance kindles a fire in Harvey, and he decides to run for public office. Milk understands that changes are necessary, and can only be achieved by becoming one of the people with the power to make a change. He makes multiple attempts to get into public office, enlisting the help of Scott, a young drifter named Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), and just about any homosexual idealist he can find. He is determined, and will accept the help of anyone who believes that civil rights are worth fighting for.

Harvey eventually gets elected as a city supervisor alongside an Irish-Catholic ex-cop named Dan White (Josh Brolin). White doesn’t believe in much of Harvey’s platform, but finds himself without any allies as a cub politician. As such he forms an uneasy friendship with Harvey. Unfortunately for White, he finds himself standing deeply in Harvey s shadow, especially as attention towards California’s Proposition 6 begins to rise. The bill seeks to force any professional that is a closeted homosexual to reveal themselves to their employers and face immediate dismissal. It is a direct challenge to the civil liberties of homosexuals in America, and the fight against it will define Harvey Milk’s legacy.

MILK is a stellar achievement for everyone involved. Sean Penn plays the role with a deep level of honesty, and fully embraces Milk’s idealism. A role like Harvey Milk is difficult since it baits a chance for a caricature. Penn, in one of his best performance, captivates the audience with a fragility…but also taps into what made Milk such a great leader. When Penn speaks about change – be it to a crowd of 3000 or a crowd of 30 – you believe it’s possible.

Behind Penn, MILK supplies a very talented cast that all disappear into their roles. Emile Hirsch, James Franco, Diego Luna, and Josh Brolin all work together to further underline the fact that Milk’s achievements weren’t Milk’s alone. Drawing such command performance, and the beautiful addition of archival footage into the film, is an admirable bit of directing from Gus Van Sant. Van Sant has frustrated moviegoers like me to no end lately with his very artsy series of films that center on watching people walk around for ninety minutes. The less maverick narrative of MILK suits his talents well, and indeed there are moments in this film that are amongst the best I’ve ever seen.

Gus – I can appreciate your desire to stretch your art-film legs…just come back to us and throw one down the middle of the plate once in a while, OK?

Most impressive about MILK, is how affecting I found it even though I knew the outcome. Imagine watching a movie about a world famous prize fighter. the audience may well know the outcome of his most famous fight – does it still move them when he wins/loses? In the case of Harvey Milk, I knew quite little about his life, but I knew about the most important details. Still, when those moments arrived in the plot, I was still deeply inspired and moved to tears. This, my friends, is the mark of a great film.

Through a slight bit of dumb luck, MILK has become pointedly relevant. Just one month ago, the state of California passed Proposition 8, denying the rights os same-sex couples to marry. It passed by the slimmest of margins, and has upset many in California’s gay community. Watching the events of the film unfold, ones thoughts can’t help to drift to what’s happening in our society still. On the one hand, you want to watch the Harvey Milk’s life struggle and say “Wow – I can’t believe we’ve come so far”. On the other hand, you think about restrictions like Proposition 8 and realize that we as a society still have a long way to go.

Matineescore: ★ ★ ★ ★ out of ★ ★ ★ ★

What did you think? Please leave comments with your thoughts and reactions on MILK.