Milk

Statistics show that no matter where you live in the United States you're more than likely to know at least one gay person.  Why their sexual preference is of any concern to you or to others is beyond me, but I'm still sure you know someone who is gay.  Weather or not they are out of the closet or plan on coming out of the closet remains to be seen.  In a year when (openly gay politician) Barney Frank of Massachusetts was able to pass a new state law that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana, and we elected our first Black President we still saw the passing of Proposition 8.  The constitution of the state of California has been altered to nullify gay marriage and now puts the future of hundreds of thousands of people's marriages in jeopardy.  Harvey Milk deserved a biopic and Gus Van Sant was just the man for the job.

In the film, Milk (played by Sean Penn) was portrayed as a businessman from San Francisco that began to organize a grass roots movement within the Castro neighborhood and eventually after several attempts was elected to the Board of Supervisors.  Sean Penn does an excellent job of showing the dedication and struggle for fundamental rights of homosexuals of the 1970's (as well as before and after).  Scott Smith (James Franco's character) was Harvey Milk's partner of several years.  Franco did a great job of convincing you he was a homosexual through intimate scenes and a deluxe mustache.  If the object was to introduce the concept of a steady gay relationship rather than a seedy Russian bathhouse/cruising type scene, Van Sant (with the help of Franco and Penn) absolutely nailed it.

The movie delves into the showdown between religious fanatics and the gay rights movement of the 70's as well.  Milk is representative of a time where intollerance is at a high but as we all know history tends to repeat itself and we have seen the passing of Proposition 8.  Though this was not expected during the production (which took only 8 weeks and used extras who were actually there in the 70's) of this film.

Shot for shot, the film itself is brilliant.  Van Sant captures your attention and allows you to feel excitement of the victory over Proposition 6.  Van Sant does an excellent job of humanizing Milk without straying in the typical Hollywood way from the actual story.  With an amazing cast of supporting actors (James Franco, Diego Luna, Emille Hersch, Josh Brolin) and a solid script this film is a strong Oscar contender.

Gus Van Sant has returned to "mainstream" cinema with a masterpiece biopic about Harvey Milk.  My only criticism of the film itself is that it seemed to focus more on Milk's struggle for gay rights than the actual concept of "equal rights for all".  Harvey Milk believed in equal rights for all disenfranchised people as well as a government that would solve the basic problems that people were facing in everyday life.  Milk believed that if he made it easier for gays to gain access to basic rights, then any group struggling for their rights or to be deemed equal in the eye of the law would have  a strong foundation as well. 

I give this film two thumbs up and reccommend that anyone see it.  Though we all know it has a sad ending it is worthy of your $9.75 or whatever it costs you to see a film these days.  Take someone who is outwardly homophobic with you.  It's impossible for anyone with a heart to ignore the dedication and struggle for equality that Harvey Milk endured during his brief time in office and on this planet.

For those of you who haven't yet seen the trailer, you can view it below.

Comments

[FACE]

Agreed