Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"If a bullet should enter my brain..., 23 April 2009
...let that bullet destroy every closet door."
[Spoiler in this paragraph.]Harvey Milk recorded this on tape as he became subject to more and more death threats; it becomes part of the voiceover at the end of Gus Van Sant's (of the quietly brilliant Good Will Hunting) biopic. Milk documents the true story of Harvey Milk's short, late-starter life in politics, beginning with his move into Castro Street, and ending with his (and Mayor Moscone's) murder.
Castro Street is the perfect bohemian backdrop for what becomes the rise of a man who has an increasingly old-fashioned sense of something being "right" that he is willing to fight for at any cost. Milk unites the gay community into various actions, and after several failed attempts finally becomes the first openly gay elected official in California. It seems such a small thing, but the movie shows the enormity of its significance in 1970s America, when being gay was enough to find you evicted from your apartment, or sacked from your job.
Penn is superb as Milk, a role one thinks it would have been so easy to overcook: initially reluctant, then driven, and always, likeably, a conduit for organised chaos and action. If someone had to wrestle the Oscar from Mickey Rourke's epic comeback, then I'm glad it was Penn. James Franco is delicious as the first of Milk's hard-done-by-lovers who finally gets tired of playing second fiddle to politics, and leaves. There are also wild-hairstyled, flamboyant performances from the likes of Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), and Diego Luna (I've never seen this guy before, but he was great). With Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) putting in a calmly eerie performance as Dan White.
The movie itself is perfectly paced, and it's impossible not to be drawn into its passion, as Milk becomes ever more involved in the ups and downs of campaigning, and gay rights come under more and more pressure. The colourful and volatile Castro Street community, ramshackle and dispossessed, seem to cling to Milk, and force him to be their leader. A choice he struggles with, and for which he will pay the ultimate price. Nevertheless, it's a role he seems made for. From the moment he steps up to the podium and says: "Hello, I'm Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you.", you just know that something crazy, something historic is going to happen. There's an undercurrent of tension and excitement in this story that never lets up, and at the end I was left feeling stunned.
Most of all though, I love this movie because it introduced me to a man of courage and conviction, Harvey Milk, a man I'd never heard of before, and now will never forget.
Milk is one of those rare movies that it's actually worth having on DVD. Buy it, watch it, and tell your friends.
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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I am here to recruit you!, 5 Feb 2009
"My name is Harvey Milk and I am here to recruit you!"
This is simply a must-have movie - great director doing his best (notably better than his last), a bunch of great actors doing their best (Sean Penn hasn't done is so well for quite a while, James Franco is simply sweet), superb camera-work (parts of the movie look like original 70s footage), and screenplay based on a great true story which makes the best of it - can you ask for more?
The film concentrates on the final years of Harvey Milk's life - the chronology is a little twisted (we know that Milk's going to die from the beginning and the events are commented by Milk himself who makes a memoir-like tape-recording in the final days before his death) but Van Sant probably couldn't help giving it this little twist. We first meet Milk when he picks up a new boyfriend in New York on his 40th birthday, and he concludes that he has not done anything he would be proud of. The couple decides to move to San Francisco when they open a shop with photo equipment in the Castro which gradually changes into a gay district it is today. Yet successful as he is as a buisnessman, Milk yearns for more. He repeatedly runs for the city council and succeeds at the third time, trying another local election in the meantime. The costs of his campaigns are high - his boyfriend leaves him, a new one proves to be mentally unstable. Milk reaches his goal, he becomes the first openly gay person elected to a high office in the USA. As a politician he is quite successful, the movie concentrates on a campaign he orchestrates successfully defeats proposed law banning teaching posts to homosexuals. Yet in the process he offends (unintentionally and the man is quite clearly presented as having serious issues) one of his colleagues who ends up shooting both the Mayor of San Francisco and Milk himself. Milk dies but what he started lives on so the movie ends on a hopeful note.
Have I recruited you already? Go and get the CD. You won't regret it for a moment! I can smell some Academy Awards here!
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22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspirational, 24 Jan 2009
Sean Penn does it again and easily delivers one of his best performances bringing to life a character and a man we no longer have, and may never see again. This is a cast filled with genuine legends like Penn & Brolin, and up and coming megastars such as Emile Hirsch and James Franco. Each and every cast member seems to give it their all in keeping loyal to their played roles character in order to play an honest homage to this legendary figure. Gus Van Sant, is a relatively unknown Director and I'm hoping that this picture is one that makes him a household name.
Personally, I'd never heard of Harvey Milk nor would have had any idea just who the man is, where he was from or what he stood for. When I heard about the film I thought nothing of it until I saw the trailer and then I was drawn in. Political activism is something I'm a strong believer in, I'm one for liberalism and the basic rights of man being upheld. I've always found it quite hypocritical that America, a country which swears allegiance to its constitution on a daily basis has such a history of prejudice and bigotry. You would think, looking at their constitution that politicians would fight to uphold its core values of "all men be created equal" rather than fight to rob certain minorities of their rights, but looking at Harvey Milks struggle and other struggles like it, I'm genuinely shocked.
I would put Harvey Milk in the same league as such men like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. They too were men who saw the persecution of their people and sought to put an end to it and fight for the core constitutional values to be upheld. Close to the end of Harveys life, America was going through a vote on Proposition 6. This was a vote which saw all homosexuals be removed from their jobs and focused its main attention on teachers. The reasoning behind this is that homosexuals recruit children to homosexuality and under "gods law" are simply "immoral". I've always been shocked by these claims by politicians and their justifications behind them are laughable, claims like this are even being made today but I'm glad to know that such prejudices aren't held in such wide regard as they once were. All history needs now is another champion for homosexuals that would have a bigger impact on the world stage.
The film tells of the history making chapter in the story that is of American Gay Civil Rights. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man elected to a public office in the entire United States history and possibly the first in the world. The film is set during Harveys mid 40s when he first moves to San Francisco with his partner Scott Smith (James Franco). The heterosexual community don't agree with Harvey and Scott setting up business in the neighbourhood and try to make it difficult for them. Because of this Harvey decides to become an activists and increases the gay presence within the neighbourhood which force those companies who tried to make it hard for him out of business.
Over time, Harvey starts to realise that in order to truly stop the persecution by police and other bigotted residents Harvey must run for Supervisor of District 5. He knows it will be a difficult fight but he knows that it's the only way to truly make a difference for the gay community. The first 4 years he runs for the office, he's met with disappointing defeat yet every year he's defeated by a less and less margin until in the 5th year he manages to pull off the win and makes history. During his time in office, he finds a conflict with fellow supervisor but of district 8, Dan White. Harvey first wants Whites support in order to win votes, but due to a few conflicts Dan ends up being Harveys biggest opponent.
I think telling you more about the story would give the whole thing away, so I'll leave it there. What I want to say about this film simply can't be expressed in words. The only way I can put across my love and appreciation of this picture is to simply recommend it to the masses. It's incredible, one of the best things you'll see this year if not ever and even if this doesn't get massive worldwide advertising campaign, it's a film that will go down as a favourite amongst many. This film has also won my love thanks to the excellent acting by Emile Hirsch, I've always been a fan and is one of the reasons I chose to watch this.
Go see it, buy it or just get on a plane and watch it on your trip, but the message is loud and simple, SEE THIS MOVIE.
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