Movie review

By Chance Dibben

Thursday, February 12, 2009

In celebrating the life of Harvey Milk—the first openly gay elected official to hold a major political office—the filmmakers behind Milk portray a real man who cared about real issues without glamorization. Sean Penn’s Harvey Milk is centrally located in the gay rights movement of the 1970s; not so much a leader but a projection of a moving force that grows as Milk and his team gain more and more ground at a time when homosexuality socially registered as deviancy.

For such a lyrical film, Milk strangely lacks intimacy to its titular character. We are given scenes between Harvey’s inner circle and pillow talk between his lovers, but these scenes never develop much about him; rather they serve to reinforce the role he plays in the movement. Director Gus Van Sant shoots Milk from a distance, giving the viewer an odd mix of detachment and fascination.

This may have been a goal writer Dustin Lance Black and director Van Sant had in mind when constructing the movie—to put Milk’s message of acceptance at the forefront—but this lets the film slip into biopic tropes and character sketches.

However, as a portrait of a person in context, Milk succeeds. Sean Penn again proves himself as one of the United State’s best living actors and the supporting cast delivers excellent performances. Van Sant’s use of archival footage deepens the movies sense of place and time, which let Milk’s actions resonate more in a film that is culturally relevant.

 

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