Milk (2008)

Directed by: Gus Van Sant | 128 minutes | drama, biography | Actors: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, James Franco, Diego Luna, Brandon Boyce, Kelvin Yu, Lucas Grabeel, Alison Pill, Victor Garber, Denis O’Hare, Howard Rosenman, Stephen Spinella, Ted Jan Roberts, Tom Ammiano, Carol Ruth Silver, Peter Jason, Hope Tuck, Steven Wiig, Ashlee Temple, Wendy Tremont King, Adam Del Rio, Eric Stoltz, Douglas Smith, Cully Fredricksen, Kenny New, Kelvin Han Yee, Boyd Holbrook, Shaun Landry, Robert Chimento, Christopher Greene, Kyle Scudiere, Tim Halpin, Jeff Redlick, Awele Makeba, Jeremiah Turner, Cory Montgomery

My name is Harvey Milk and I’m here to recruit you. Harvey Milk started most of his speeches with that provocative opening line. Milk was elected City Councilor of San Francisco in 1977. He was the first openly gay elected politician in the United States. Milk had charm and charisma and not only championed the emancipation of gays, but also acted as a bridge builder. He spoke not in impossibilities, but in opportunities. He was also a symbol of hope. Hundreds of thousands of (young) gays in the US saw him as living proof that there were also opportunities for them to reach the top and make their voices heard. It is not without reason that more and more gays and lesbians came out after Milk’s election. Not everyone saw the rise of Harvey Milk as an enrichment for politics. His ultra-conservative former colleague Dan White, who was his polar opposite in everything, shot him through the head on a chilly November day without scruples. The then mayor of San Francisco, George Moscone, also had to believe it.

Not so much the tragic murder of Harvey Milk, but the last ten years of his life form the bulk of Gus Van Sant’s biopic ‘Milk’ (2008). His film is, in fact, a tribute to the changes initiated by Milk. It is clear from the start that the politician will not make it to the end of the film. In the first scene, we see Harvey (Sean Penn) recording his memoirs into a dictaphone. Due to various threats addressed to him, he may already feel his end approaching. Milk takes us to New York in 1970, where he is known as a successful businessman. He picks up men at night. The night before his fortieth birthday, he bumps into the much younger Scott (James Franco) on the subway. Scott goes home with Harvey, and after their fling, Milk finds that he hasn’t done anything significant in 40 years. He and Scott decide to move away to San Francisco, where they open a photo shop. Harvey soon establishes himself as a champion of the middle-class gay community in the Castro neighborhood and his business becomes a haven for politically conscious gays. The role of advocate for equal rights for gays suits Harvey and it is not long before he is running for political office in the city. After several failed campaigns (which emphasize once again that anyone who wants to make it in politics must have a lot of patience and perseverance), Milk finally manages to get a seat in town hall in 1977.

Gay rights are not only at stake in San Francisco, but also in other parts of the country. One of the most prominent propagandists of the anti-gay movement is religious fanatic Anita Bryant. Van Sant deliberately only shows archive footage of her, so that it is clear that her hate-mongering rhetoric is not exaggerated by an actress. This woman with outdated and terrifying ideas toured the country in the 1970s to crush the emancipation of gay men everywhere. The images seem to come straight from the Oscar-winning documentary ‘The Life and Times of Harvey Milk’ (1984), which was clearly taken as a guideline by Van Sant. The director, himself openly gay and therefore an insider in the Californian gay scene, puts the facts in a jacket dressed with great love and an eye for detail. He also shows the love between men as it is and that can safely be called a relief in puritan Hollywood. The cameraman on duty is Van Sant’s loyal companion Harris Savides, who is given space here and there for inventive shots. It’s still a Gus Van Sant print, isn’t it? Danny Elfman’s music is effective and fully serves the images we are presented with.

The warm, moving film that Van Sant delivers here is his most conventional since ‘Good Will Hunting’ (1997), although the subject will certainly be seen as provocative in certain circles. ‘Milk’ is above all the film of the brilliant Sean Penn. The real Harvey Milk was a gentle man, funny and charming. Penn has combined all those elements in a sublime way. In addition, he – often subtly and sometimes less subtle – exposes Milk’s nature in a very natural way. For example, the way in which he slyly looks at his opponent after a heated political debate is beautiful. You can hardly imagine that someone does not fall for his charm. Penn proves once again that he is one of the best actors of his generation. His opponents also put their best foot forward. Emile Hirsch, who starred in the Penn-directed ‘Into the Wild’ (2007), is disarming and funny as Harvey’s campaign manager Cleve Jones. James Franco hasn’t been this endearing since his title role in the miniseries ‘James Dean’ (2001). Allison Pill and Diego Luna also perform well. But the only one who really puts the pen to the fire when it comes to acting is Josh Brolin. He portrays the complex Dan White – of whom Van Sant subtly suggests that he himself may be struggling with repressed homosexual feelings – very strongly. Being a man of few words, Brolin relies heavily on body language, which makes him unpredictable and extremely fascinating.

‘Milk’ has already won quite a few awards and rightly so. The film paints a warm and moving picture of the person Harvey Milk and the role he played in the emancipation of gays in the US. The image that is shown is perhaps a bit one-sided, since Milk is clearly put on a pedestal: you can clearly see that the subject is close to the director’s heart. That one-sided image is actually the only point of criticism, because otherwise this compelling political drama has been very successful. Van Sant ignores his urge to experiment as much as possible and gives his actors plenty of room to burn. Especially Josh Brolin and an irresistible Sean Penn make the most of that!