Milk
Sean Penn stars as Harvey Milk out to recruit anyone who wants equal rights for all including gays, the biographical film is the true story of how one man started a revolution for equal rights.
Film making 23/25
Cinematography 24/25
Audio 22/25
Bonus Features 18/25
Total 87/100
Milk is the true story of Harvey Milk, gay activist and the first openly gay man to take a public office as a city supervisor for the City of San Francisco. Sean Penn takes on the role and does a great job earning him the Best Actor Academy Award along with several other lesser awards.
While I had not liked several films and the actor himself Sean Penn has turned out to be a great actor and one that is perfect for this role. Sean has taken on some very tough acting jobs and excelled at making himself a part of the character and making it easy for us to believe in the person he is portraying.
Harvey Milk started his run for political office after the age of forty when he came out of the closet and moved to San Francisco in search of a more accepting neighborhood for his chosen lifestyle. Harvey and his younger lover Scott Smith open up Castro Camera, a small camera shop that becomes a central meeting place for the gay community in the area.
Harvey sees the opposition to accepting gays in the city and makes a commitment to run for city supervisor so he can change the attitude along with some laws that are making their way across the country. During the film a major feature is clips of Harvey recording his last will and a biographical chronicle of his life in politics.
It may take Harvey a few tries at gaining politic status but he eventually does and gets a lot of respect from political circles as well as the Mayor of San Francisco George Moscone. Harvey not only knows how to hold his own against political rivals by the time his campaign is a success but he also knows how to motivate and control a crowd toward his own ends.
He was a true hero to his fellows and knew that he put his own life in jeopardy but he still continued toward his goal of equal rights regardless of personal choices. The movement against him was overwhelming and yet he led his friends and colleagues to victory only to be cut down before his fiftieth birthday.
Harvey was shot not by a rival against the gay or lesbian community but by someone who just hated him for his choices in voting for non equal rights matters. During the beginning of his work as a city supervisor Harvey was sort of shown the ropes by Dan White expecting to get support from Harvey on several issues.
Harvey could see that he was opening himself up to hatred and a possible assassination attempt but really did not see it coming from someone from the same board of supervisors. In the end Harvey Milk was killed by fellow supervisor Dan White who resigned his job and in a fit of desperation after trying to ask the mayor for it back killed the mayor and then Harvey Milk.
The expected candlelight vigil held in Harvey Milk’s honor is held as the final shot of the film but that is not all for the Blu-ray edition of Milk. The Blu-ray edition comes with a few extras about Harvey Milk in a feature with interviews from friends, film clips and stories about the real man and his campaign for equal rights.
The Blu-ray edition also comes with a good feature from the cast and crew about filming in San Francisco and a reflection with key people from the past as they look back at the marches for equality of the 1970’s. The two features are from friends and people surrounding the movement at the time as they share their stories and remembrances of the pivotal moments with a great man who ultimately gave his life for his cause.
Harvey Milk is a great film and an important part of our countries past with equal rights being a major movement even if some do not like the cause. I think this is one of those films that is a must see and one that shows that equality does not stop at race and religion but should be in all parts of our lives.