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Rating: 4.5 out 5
“My name is Harvey Milk—and I want to recruit you.”
I’m going to be honest and state that I don’t know much about the struggles the LGBTQ+ community has gone through. During my safe space training, I learned more about the community and what it means to be a supporter. I just want to say that I don’t know why some people are so against this community. Everyone in this world deserves to be happy no matter race or sexual orientation. Rather than be naïve, celebrate Pride month and really learn about this great community. Open up your ears and mind and be accepting.
Harvey Bernard Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Even though he was the most pro-LGBT politician in the United States at the time in his life, politics and activism were not his early interests. He was neither open about his sexuality nor civically active until he was 40 after his experiences in the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Milk served almost eleven months in office, during which he sponsored a bill banning discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment-based on sexual orientation. His career was cut short when he was assassinated by Dan White, a disgruntled city supervisor. Yet, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr in the gay community.
Directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black stars in Milk is a 2008 American biographical film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk. I want to say that this film is phenomenal with the direction, acting, cinematography, and real-life story. I enjoyed this film and truly learned a lot and even went down a rabbit hole of learning more.
Gus Van Sant’s film begins with Harvey Milk (Penn) at the young age of 48. He at his kitchen table with a table recorder and reflecting on his personal journey that began at the age of 40. After picking up Scott Smith (Franco) in the subway with the smoothest moves, he states that he has grown unsatisfied with his life and decided he wanted to really do something before hitting 50. Milk packs his shit up and decides to move to San Francisco in the hope of finding a larger acceptance of their relationship. While in San Francisco, they open Castro Camera in the heart of Eureka Valley, a working-class neighborhood in the process of evolving into a predominantly gay neighborhood known as The Castro. Even though the valley was becoming predominately gay, the community was met with opposition and being systematically persecuted by homophobic police. Milk seeing enough, utilizes his background as a businessman to become a gay activist, eventually becoming a mentor for Cleve Jones (Hirsch). Milk didn’t enter politics until he decided to run for the Board of Supervisors. He ran three times before being elected. He campaigned for a gay rights ordinance while forging alliances with almost everyone for a common cause.
The first thing I want to talk about is how well this film is directed. Gus Van Sant does a marvelous job going through a period in which Milk decides to leave NYC and go to San Francisco to be an activist. Van Sant expertly showed the struggles of Milk and how he rose to help his community, from standing on a soapbox to winning a seat in government to his untimely death. It was very well done, put together, and made you really care for everyone. I applaud you for your direction Gus Van Sant.
What I really want to talk about is the cinematography of this film. It was some of the best I’ve seen, and I like the use of real-life archival footage along with the movie. To me, this gives a movie more substance and helps you truly see that shit got real back in the day. First, love how the film begins with old black and white footage with a headline saying homosexuals and police clash. People are arrested as most have their heads down. Another headline says police brutality at a gay club. While another says, police start to crack down on gay bars. Another great use of archival footage is when the film talks about Anita Bryant and her mission against homosexuals. Finally, at the end, the candlelight service for Milk and the use of archival footage to truly show how special this man was.
The scene that truly showed how great the cinematography was the scene after the boycott of Coors and the night one of the cops beat on a gay man. The scene shows Milk talking to a police officer. The whole conversation is viewed against the reflection of a shiny whistle on the ground. The camera slowly moves to the left to get more of the conversation between the cop and Milk, and when the conversation is done, we see Milk reach down and picks up the whistle off the ground.
The film also shows the many relationships that Milk formed in his quest to becoming a politician. One of the significant relationships that I really liked in the film and showed how strong Milk was a hero was when the boy in the wheelchair called from Minnesota. He was thinking about suicide after seeing the vote in Florida and how his family didn’t accept him. The next time we see the boy, he calls Milk and tells him he got on a bus and moved to LA. This was a powerful and sweet moment. Lastly, there is Dan White, the man who shot and killed Milk. At first, they were friendly with each other even though they were from opposite ends of the spectrum. White was a conservative, straight edge man who wanted to provide for his voters. Even though Milk thinks he is a closeted gay, they eventually butted heads.
As far as the acting goes, everyone does a great job with the story, but the one who needs to be talked about is Sean Penn. Penn seemed to embody the famous person with his mannerisms and speech pattern. Penn shows Milk as an ordinary person who wants to make a change but also a person that is funny, kind, idealistic, stubborn, but also one who wants a peaceful world for all.
Milk is an excellent movie about a man who helps a community rise and has their voices heard. Sometimes it just takes a simple idea, and a need to change the world to have your voice heard or drowned out with everyone else.
