Milk

The word "timely" has been used repeatedly in reviews for Gus Van Sant's Milk, and while I try not to reiterate things in my reviews that have already been stated far more eloquently in professional reviews, it's hard to avoid talking about just how perfect it is that Milk was released precisely when it has been. That's not to say that it wouldn't be the excellent motion picture it is if it had been in theaters last year or whatever, but its release at this point in time makes its greatness that much more palpable. Milk is the best kind of political film - it steers clear of the tedious, sermon-y and heavy-handed approach that most movies of its kind take, yet also manages not to fall into simple-mindedness and/or one-sidedness, which is the other popular path taken by most political films. Milk is a stunning biopic, flawlessly directed and acted, particularly featuring one of the best lead performances of this decade.

When President-elect Barack Obama gave his victory speech over a month ago, one of the initial things he mentioned was that the results showed that all "groups" had come together in this election, and he went ahead and mentioned "old and young," "black, white, Asian, Hispanic and Native American," "Democrat and Republican," and "gay and straight"... prior to hearing this, I was already extremely emotional by the mere fact that he had won, but when he said this, it was like that jolt of hope that he clearly wants everyone in America to get charged with pierced right through me, and it gave me that inspiration that he's already imparted on so many others. It sucks to admit it, but he probably would've never been able to say "gay and straight" during a campaign speech, but I was so glad that he brought it up in his victory speech, and I don't know if much is gonna be accomplished during his administration in terms of the issue of gay rights (and I'll admit that he certainly has other more pressing issues to attend to), but when he said that, it just... it gave me hope. And the fact that it gave me hope would not only please Obama himself, but it would also please Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to political office, whose campaign focused on that exact same thing: hope. In fact, Van Sant's film closes with the line "you've got to give them hope" being repeated by Milk several times, thus making it an intensely resonant statement. It's just such a great coincidence that Milk was released as Obama is gearing up to take on the role of president, and I say this not only because of the hope factor, but also because Milk is not really a film about homosexuality: it's a purely political film and an incredible one at that. As Milk puts it at one point, "This is not just about jobs or about all the other issues: this is our lives we're fighting for!" Of course, the other coincidence in terms of timing is that Van Sant's film features Milk's struggle in 1978 to thwart the Briggs Initiative (known then as Proposition 6) to ban gays and lesbians and anyone who supported gay rights from teaching in California's public schools, and earlier this year, California was the stage for the battle for Proposition 8 to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman and to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. Sadly, the "yes" vote seems to have won by a small margin, which obviously means that, 30 years later, there's still a long ways to go as far as this issue's concerned. But we gotta have hope, right? Anyway, to get off this long tangent...

Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) has what turns out to be a brilliant idea when talking about the struggle for gay rights with his boyfriend, Scott (James Franco). All they need is "somebody to look after them", a leader. As Milk correctly states, "politics is more about theater and making a statement" than anything else. So, he decides to step up and take on that role, meeting much disapproval initially, none of which discourages him in the least bit from moving forward with his unrelenting diligence and with Scott's fervent support as the manager of his campaign, for which Milk also recruits the spunky Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch, in a scene-stealing, energetic turn). The first half of Milk focuses on the activist's struggle to actually get elected as supervisor, which happens only after several years of tough losses. Van Sant gives us a completely accurate depiction of what political campaigns are like, highlighting the importance of establishing political alliances and obtaining crucial endorsements. The brilliance of Milk comes mainly from its ability to depict all of these political elements without making the audience members feel like they are watching a tedious History Channel special on Harvey Milk, and it is successful at that by portraying the very human side of struggling to obtain people's support, and also by showing the decay of Milk's relationship with Scott, as a result of the time-consuming campaign (certainly a problem for all politicians, of both sexual orientations). Milk never strays from its perfect balance between insightful political commentary and effective emotion-driven drama, and that is one of the reasons why this is a truly great film.

The second half covers Milk's time as an elected supervisor, working alongside his eventual assassin, Dan White (Josh Brolin), whom Milk initially dismisses as "uneducated," but he later becomes intrigued by him, even surmising that White could be a closeted gay. In order to counter Proposition 6 to prohibit gays and lesbians from teaching in California public schools, Milk and his team set up an initiative to get as many people as possible to "come out," the idea being that the more voters know at least one gay person, the more likely they would be to vote against the proposition. The most interesting aspect about this is how the effort causes strain within Milk's team, leading to a particular scene in which one of its members struggles with the decision to call his father and come out to him. Milk and White clash over their political aims, propelling a series of events that will lead White to murder both Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber), a staunch supporter of the gay politician. The scene that depicts Milk's assassination is incredibly intense and difficult to watch, despite the fact that we've known throughout the entire film that this would happen. Even more amazingly, Milk's death is depicted through the often-used slow-motion technique, A.K.A "it takes the person 10 million years to fall flat on the floor and die," yet this doesn't make the scene feel self-important or overblown in the least bit (as is usually the case when this technique is employed). The reason for this is that Penn never fails to give us a raw look at Milk's humanity, which means that during this scene, we can feel nothing but absolute devastation. The film's final moments are brilliantly edited, cutting from the candle-light vigil to one of the first scenes in the film (years earlier) with Milk and boyfriend Scott discussing the future, to the radio address in which we hear Milk repeatedly state those immortal words: "you've gotta give them hope." Even the "Where are they now?" captions at the very end do not feel unnecessary, but rather helpful in giving this wonderful story a sense of finality.

Penn doesn't just give a great performance... this is an absolute transformation, a total embodying of the character he is playing, a feat far superior to his work 5 years ago in both 21 Grams and Mystic River. His portrayal of Milk is beyond breath-taking. He doesn't even look all that much like the real Harvey Milk, yet while watching this film, you seriously forget you're watching Sean Penn on the screen. As for the supporting performances, the adorably handsome James Franco is very good as our main character's romantic companion, though I still insist that the best acting job he's done this year is as the unforgettably hilarious Saul in Pineapple Express (which is why, on a side note, I was thrilled by the surprise Golden Globe nomination). Josh Brolin has what is, admittedly, a very tough job playing the role of Dan White, clearly a very conflicted individual, as is subtly revealed in some early moments and then blatantly during the scene in which a drunk White shows up at Milk's birthday party. Honestly, it'd be a travesty if Brolin went unrecognized two years in a row after No Country For Old Men last year. Emile Hirsch, having already worked with Penn, who directed last year's Into the Wild, gives a delightfully energetic performance in Milk, even though in terms of awards consideration, he is being overshadowed by Brolin and Franco (just like Gary Oldman's great supporting performance in The Dark Knight is being overshadowed by that of the late Heath Ledger). There is a particularly great scene involving Hirsch and Penn's characters, in which Cleve talks to Milk about his recent trip to Spain and tells him about the persecution of gays under Francisco Franco's regime. The younger actor speaks his lines in such a forceful (yet never forced) way in this scene, and this serves as a great prelude to the energy that Cleve brings to Milk's campaign.

Not since Elephant has Gus Van Sant created such a powerfully amazing motion picture. Paranoid Park, released earlier this year, was good, but nothing nearly as groundbreaking as both Elephant and Milk are. There is a scene in Milk that is very reminiscent of Elephant in its use of an identical cinematic technique of having a camera move in a circular motion during a meeting to scan everyone's reactions while other people are speaking; in Elephant, it was used adroitly during the school club meeting that ends tragically, and in Milk, it is used just as skillfully during one of the title character's meetings with his political team. While Milk is likely to be a popular film among gay movie-goers and similarly unpopular among movie-goers who have no interest in watching a film that has homosexuality as a subject matter, I'd really like to reiterate that this is NOT AT ALL a movie about sexuality. It is a purely political work of cinema and an amazingly timely one at that, which actually means that the film should be suitable for most audiences, at least those who are politically conscious, which one would HOPE is a decent chunk of the population. I don't know whether or not Milk will turn out to be the very best film of the year (in my opinion, it currently is, but I've yet to see several of the ostensible contenders), but there is no doubt in my mind that it is among the most important movies of the year, if not the most important one. Though a tragic biopic, Van Sant's film is actually a very positive and uplifting picture, seeing as optimism is precisely what its lead character wished to impart on his people. In what has certainly been an intense political year, Milk is a magnificently opportune showcase for hope and inspiration.

9/10