Milk* (2008)

Forget Benjamin Button. If it weren’t for the infectious spirit of Slumdog Millionaire, this is the film that would have deserved Best Picture at the Oscar’s for 2008. A biopic with historical and current value, Milk offers a powerful glimpse into a defining time in the early gay rights movement. Everything clicks- the acting, the drama, and honest emotions that will move most who watch this film.

After hooking up with a younger man (James Franco), the soon-to-be 40-year old Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) and his new lover move from New York City to an emerging gay community in San Francisco. Milk uses his business savvy to become a gay rights activist. This drives him to run for public office but his devotion to campaigning drives his lover away. His next lover is mentally unbalanced and hangs himself out of what he perceives to be neglect.

After years of organizing and campaigning, Milk is elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, becoming the first openly gay man to serve in a major public office in California’s history. It is here where Harvey Milk makes his stand. He forms a complex political relationship with social conservative Board member Dan White (Josh Brolin) and launches a campaign against Proposition 6, a state ballot initiative that, if passed, would ban homosexuals from serving in public schools. Defeating Proposition 6 becomes a rallying point for homosexuals but the spirit of victory is short-lived as Milk is assassinated weeks later.

After the PR debacle that was Brokeback Mountain, it seems that LGBT groups abstained from hoisting this film on their shoulders and parading it around as a defining film for their cause. This allows audiences to experience the power and humanity of Harvey Milk for themselves, making it all the more meaningful. Frankly, this film does more for gay rights than Brokeback ever did and probably could have used a little more vocal support. By letting the film stand on its own legs though, the story of Harvey Milk retains all of its genuineness and power.

Many ‘issues’ films fall victim to an enlarged sense of self-importance. Milk is not one of them. It does not whitewash its subject, nor does it level blanket condemnations and generalizations towards those who disagree with the issue of gay rights. This is partly due to a script that is determined to treat these historical figures as accurately and fairly as possible. The other half of the equation is the direction of Gus Van Sant. An eclectic director, Van Sant tends to avoid schmaltz and anything that crosses the line of naturalism.

The cast buys into the writer’s vision and the director’s philosophy, producing wonderful, complex characters. I may not like Sean Penn for his personal politics, egotism and hypocritical behavior, but all of this was wiped from my memory for two hours. Penn’s Milk is an honest, beautiful soul that you can’t help but cheer for. This is certainly a testament to Penn’s acting and was deserving of his Best Actor win (though I have yet to see Mickey Rourke’s work in The Wrestler). The rest of the cast displays all the right enthusiasm as young people drawn in by Harvey Milk’s magnetic personality and motivational speeches. Because these characters believe in Harvey Milk, you will find it that much easier to do so as well.

The one thing I had trouble wrapping my head around was the ease at which some of the homosexual characters in the film throw themselves into casual, sexual relationships. I think it’s dumb when heterosexual people do it too but I think my lack of understanding comes from two facts: 1) I am heterosexual and have had very few encounters with people engaging in an open LGBT lifestyle, and 2) I live in a time that is, I hope, a little more cautious about such activity. Given the time period (post-sexual revolution), the reckless sexual behavior might make a little more sense. It’s just the suddenness of it all that catches me off guard.

Had this film come out in 2007 or 2009, or had Slumdog Millionaire gone direct to DVD, it probably would have won Best Picture. Milk takes a hard, honest look at the early roots of the gay rights movement. It wasn’t about the right to have a same-sex partner or the right to have a flamboyant parade through town or to shove the LGBT lifestyle in anyone’s face. Harvey Milk and his supporters were fighting for the right to be considered fully human by society- the right to have their dignity acknowledged. Everyone, barring the most cynical and homophobic, can appreciate and respect that.

RATING: 4 out of 5