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NOVEMBER 21, 2008
* film
A Political Firebrand
Milk reaffirms Gus Van Sant's gifts as a filmmaker
by Gary Morris
w
moved to San Fran
cisco in 1988, too late to
have met Harvey Milk, “The
Mayor of Castro Street,” who
was assassinated in 1978 at age
48. But 1 felt his activist legacy every
where, from the pleasure and ease of simply walk-
ing through the flourishing Castro district to wit
nessing the community’s toughness and resilience
in dealing with homophobia wherever it appeared.
When it was announced that Gus Van Sant
was going to direct the biopic of this seminal gay
leader, some of us were worried. The Portlander’s
career has been a checkered one; for every high
point (Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho),
there’s been a corresponding low (Gerry, Psycho),
with some films (Even Cowgirls Get the Blues) so
low that they regularly make the “worst movies
ever” lists. But the recent, excellent Paranoid Park
was an encouraging sign, and Milk in fact reaffirms
Van Sant’s gifts. This film, which opens Nov. 26,
ranks alongside Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Pri
vate Idaho as a powerful, beautifully realized work.
Milk opens with grainy real-life footage of
busts in gay bars in New York and Los Angeles in
the 1950s and ’60s, setting both the style and the
political tone for the story to follow. But Van Sant
balances the political (via actual news clips) with
the personal throughout, just as Milk tried to do
in his own life. Early on we see both his funny, hu
man side and his drive to make a difference when
he picks up a trick, Scott Smith, and wistfully tells
him: “I’m 40 years old, and I haven’t done a thing
I’m proud of.”
The two move to San Francisco, and Milk,
who spent years in the closet, begins the work
that would at last make him proud. His arrival
dovetails with a politicized post-Stonewall gay
community, and no two bedfellows were ever
happier as he becomes the dynamic leader and
mother hen of a group of queer activists fighting
for their rights.
One of the film’s pleasures is the feeling of joy
ful camaraderie among Milk and his merry band
of queens and dykes, who seem to realize they’re
making history while at the same time dancing,
dishing and trying to get laid. Why shouldn’t the
revolution be fun? Of course, the fun is tempered
by what we know happened to Milk and by the
film’s frequent insertions of authentic footage of
hatemongers like Anita Bryant and John Briggs
into the narrative. The film also lays out one of
the more surprising obstacles Milk faced in the
form of gay power brokers like David Goodstein,
publisher of The Advocate, who
were terrified of the interloper’s
fiery version of gay liberation.
Sean Penn delivers an alternately whimsical and self-effacing
Milk’s romances with the
performance in the title role of Milk.
dreamy Smith and unhinged
Jack Lira offer fascinating glimpses into his per James Franco nicely sketch their smaller roles as,
sonality, but it was his relationship with his future
respectively, Cleve Jones and Smith, while Diego
killer, Dan White, that resonates the most here.
Luna is both appalling and enthralling as dizzy,
The film subtly portrays unexpected similarities
maniacal queen Lira.
between the two men, both community-minded
A curious side note: There’s a scene in the
and both outsiders, while also airing Milk’s sus film where Milk explains to some of the timid gay
picion that White’s inner demons may have been
power brokers that putting out a flier demanding
the result of being a closet case, something Milk
gay rights without using the word “gay” is pathetic
felt he could recognize.
and counterproductive. According to a produc
Van Sant expertly conjures 1970s San Francis
tion insider for Milk, quoted on Yahoo Films,
co, aided by Dustin Lance Black’s superior script.
distributor Focus Features might also be trying to
And the film gains simply by timing: It’s impossi “erase rhe gay” from its marketing campaign: “The
ble not to equate Milk and the queer community’s
best way to help this film win over a mainstream
struggle then with the present bruising fight for
audience is to avoid partisanship, and the best
same-sex marriage.
way to avoid partisanship is to let people find out
But what really makes Milk are the
about the film from the film itself.”
performances. Sean Penn is simply stunning in the
Avoid partisanship? In 2008? Harvey Milk, we
need you! ©
title role, alternately whimsical and self-effacing,
a political firebrand and a hopeless romantic
always looking for love. The versatile Josh Brolin
also registers strongly as the tormented White—is
there any role he can’t play? Emile Hirsch and
1
G ary M orris edits and publishes Bright Lights
Film Journal, located online at www.
brightlightsfHm.com.
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