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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2008)
Beauty)— along with a research crew including Rainbow Flag creator Gilbert Baker and Milk speechwriter (and The Towering Inferno scribe) Frank Robinson. The strong supporting cast features Golden Globe winner James Franco (James Dean) as boyfriend Scott Smith, Diego Luna (Y Tu Mamá También) as boyfriend Jack Lira, Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) as assassin Dan White, Emile Hirsch (into the Wiki) as AIDS Memorial Quilt creator Cleve Jones, Emmy nominee Victor Garber (Alias) as Mayor George Moscone, Tony winner Denis O’Hare (Take Me Out) as state Sen. John Briggs, Tony winner Stephen Spinella (Angels in America) as rival Rick Stokes and Eric Stoltz (Singles) as future City Supervisor Tom Ammiano. Milk, which opens Nov. 26, represents a major milestone in the esteemed career of 56-year-old Van Sant. Having concentrated on experimental indies since the turn of the millennium—from 2OO2’s Gerry through 2OO7’s Paranoid Park— he’s poised to receive his widest mainstream attention since 1997’s Good Will Hunting, which earned him an Oscar nomination and scored statues for actor Robin Williams as well as first-time screenwriters Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. It’s also Van Sant’s first stab at explicitly gay subject matter—not counting the homoerotic sub text that permeates the bulk of his oeuvre— since 1993’s Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Tixlay’s cin ematic landscape is much different, particularly after the critical and commercial success of 2OO5’s Brokeback Mountain— a project to which his name was once attached, incidentally. Portlanders will be among the first to see Milk when Van Sant hosts a gala premiere Nov. 14 benefiting Outside In, as he did for 2003’s Elephant, which had just won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The social service agency, celebrating its 40th anniversary, has helped thousands of homeless youth leave the streets; according to its Web site, 30 percent of these kids are sexual minorities whose families can’t “manage the many complexities of a developing sexual/gender identity outside of the norm. Most often youth believe they will better their lives when they go to the street.” Van Sant spoke with Just Out about how much things have—and haven’t—changed in both movies and politics through the years. POLITICIAN’S WORDS RING TRUE TO THIS “There is a major difference be tween a friend [in office] and a gay person in offioe. It’s not enough just to have friends rep resent us, no matter how good those friends may be. We must give people the chance to judge us by our own leaders and our own legislators.” “I have never considered myself a candidate. I have always considered myself part of a movement, part of a candidacy.” “I stand for all those who feel that the government no longer understands the individual and no longer respects individual rights.” “I understand the responsibility of being gay.... I was elected by the peo ple of this district, but I also have a responsibility to gays—not just in this city, but elsewhere.” “On the Statue of Liberty it says: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.’ In the Declaration of Independence it is written: ‘All men are created equal and they are endowed with certain inalienable rights.’ And in our national anthem it says: *Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free.’ “For...all the bigots out there: That’s what America is. No matter how hard you try, you cannot erase those words from the Declaration of In dependence. No matter how hard you try, you cannot chip those words from off the base of the Statue of Liberty. And no matter how hard you try, you cannot sing The Star-Spangled Banner* without those words. “That’s what America is. Love it or leave it.” “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.” I’m, AVAILABLE,,, when jot/ are! Careful and energetic handling of all your home financing needs ¿J a MORTGAGE Advocates 67(X) SW 105th Ave., Suite 200 Beaverton, OR 97005 Toll Free (877) 82f>99(X) Fax (503) 2974W24 E-Mail: colleen®mtgailv<>catrs.coin www.rntgiuhxMHtes.con) Jim Radosta: What first motivated you to tell Harvey Milk’s story, and how long has this proj ect been in the works? Gus Van Sant: I had first heard about it through Rob Epstein, who made the documentary, and the [1982 Randy Shi Its] book The Mayor of Castro Street had even predated the documentary. It was a project that Oliver Stone [/FKj was going to do but they decided not to do. So 1 worked on that for a little while. 1 knew about Harvey somewhat but not, like, the details. So I learned a lot during that period preparing for tak ing over for Oliver. There was a script that 1 thought needed some work and [rhe studio] wanted to go ahead with, so we parted ways because they wanted to get it in production and 1 didn’t think it was the right thing. So it fell apart after that [in 1993]. There was another screenplay 1 think in ’95 that 1 wrote up here in Portland, and then when 1 handed it in, 1 think they forgot why they asked me to write it. It was during a period when To Die For had just come out, and also I’m sure they didn't like the screenplay. The screenplay was like a Charlie Kaufman [Being John Malkovich] screen play. It was really, really wild. So they passed on that, and after that years went by. Then Lance [Black] just materialized. 1 knew he was writing a musical about Cleve Jones with a friend of his. Cleve Jones was one of Harvey’s street lieutenants who would help with the march es and was one of his advisers. He was younger; he was about 20 at the time. 1 was always in touch with him originally when I researched the project; I stayed at Cleve's house. I was through the years always in touch with Cleve; he was the one that I would always send the script to, to get his OK for accuracy. He called and he said that Lance had written a screenplay about Harvey now that the musical about Cleve was no longer happening. JR: How does his screenplay differ from the one you had in the mid-1990s? GVS: There were different drafts written by David Franzoni [Gladiator], who was a well-known screenwriter in Hollywixxl, and Oliver had devel oped these screenplays. 1 read maybe one or two of them. They were still in the process of writing Continued on Page 22 INVEST IN YOUR FUTURE Portland Development Commission (PDC) careers offer you a challenging, rewarding environment that encourages creative thinking, and opportunities for growth. View our current employment opportunities at www.pdc.us/jobs. At PDC you'll work with a great group of smart, dedicated people in Economic Development, Real Estate, Development, Finance, Public Affairs and other fields on projects that make Portland one of the best cities in the U.S. PDC values a diverse workforce and a personal-professional life balance. We offer competetive salaries, benefits and retirement. For information about career opportunities at PDC, call Human Resources, 503.823.4896, or visit our website, www.pdc.us/jobs. r 5/
