"My name is Harvey Milk and I am here to recruit you!"
On of my favorite performances of the year was Sean Penn in MILK. This is a film about the first openly gay elected member of the Public office in the US. Very relevant for the current time we are in and an excellent portrayal of San Fransisco circa 1970.
The sheer excellence of the film is down to the screenplay, Sean Penn and the mere celebration of gay rights. Josh Brolin plays Dan White, Harvey Milk's opposition. This biopic is an excellent piece of film making, not only is the screenplay fantastic, the characters are very loyal to the real life people involved in Milk's legacy.
So, Milk moves to San Francisco from New York and opens up a camera shop in the cities flourishing gay district. Van Sant reveals Milk's death early on in the film and switches back to the beginning of his journey. The mood is essentially positive, light and warm. This is mainly due to Milk's friends and coworkers.
Emile Hirsch in particular gives a fantastically modern representation of a young, trendy gay man. The friends / coworkers bounce off each other and Penn delivers heartbreaking lines with the warmest sentiment.
At times, the focus on politics is lost and turned into a fluffy subject however we must remember this is essentially, a biopic. Alison Pill gives a mediocre performance of the only lesbian in the film, the fantastic Anne Kronenberg whom has openly congratulated Van Sant on the film. There is no doubt this is about gay rights not the lesbian movement.
A fascinating film which celebrates the legacy of Harvey Milk.
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