The Life of Milk

By Breanne Boland December 11, 2008 Issue

I’ve always found the story of Harvey Milk heartbreaking. Even the stripped-down version most people know is incredibly sad: man defies public opinion and threats to become the first openly gay elected official, man succeeds at uniting a beaten-down minority, man is ultimately assassinated by a deranged political enemy whose trial is such a sham that even today it’s well known for its absurdity.

Seeing it reenacted, where the gaps between political acts are filled in with scenes of actual humanity, is even more difficult. Milk was a savvy politician, but he was likable in ways that didn’t merely translate to votes. He was funny and silly and could be, on occasion, a big old queen. He had a tumultuous love life. His life as most people know it only began at the age of 40, when he left an unsatisfying, closeted life in New York for San Francisco. He died at 48, with many successes behind him, but with many things unresolved. As they tend to be, when someone is murdered.

Sean Penn plays Harvey Milk, the businessman turned activist turned San Francisco city supervisor. In real life, Penn can be a shade abrasive, but that side is all but buried here. He’s all easy charm and political smoothness. His Milk burns through life, propelled by 40 years of passing in a world that preferred that he remain silent. His romantic life is that of your most dramatic friend, but he’s still eminently likable—accurate enough, considering that his political life was a popularity contest in a time when his existence was illegal in many parts of the country.

There’s a risk, in a film like this, of canonizing the very human Milk. The film is directed by Gus Van Sant, who spent more than 15 years developing this biopic. Milk was filmed on location in San Francisco and the Castro, and the storefront that once housed Milk’s camera store was rented and restored to its mid-‘70s glory. Residents and former friends participated as extras. And while the film began production before the many gay rights-related election issues that went to vote last month, it still feels all the more poignant because of the current public discussion.

Fortunately, the film mostly sidesteps that. While you’d be hard-pressed to name a vice of the main character, Penn keeps him from being a faultless angel composite character. Mixing period news footage with the dramatizations helps too; few things are more grounding than the flood of candles in the streets of San Francisco for Milk’s memorial march.

It’s a film that checks all the boxes of traditional Oscar-bait productions: it’s a biopic, it deals with Issues, and it features mainstream actors portraying (gasp!) gay men. For all that, it’s a truly enjoyable film. While this is Serious Theater, it’s also a celebration of a man who woke up from a wasted life and decided to change the world into something he felt was more perfect. It’s a timely reminder among today’s burgeoning political optimism.

***

OPENING SOON:
Dec. 12: Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly star in the remake of Robert Wise’s 1951 sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still…Freddie Prinze Jr., Burt Reynolds, Sally Kellerman and other has-beens lend their voice talent to the animated teen fantasy Delgo…Nothing Like the Holidays is a Christmas dramedy with an Hispanic bent.
Dec. 19: The Brothers Bloom are a pair of con men who decide to take on one last job…Will Smith re-teams with his Pursuit of Happyness director for Seven Pounds; Smith portrays an IRS man with a secret…Matthew Broderick voices the mousy title character in The Tale of Despereaux...Jim Carrey returns to formulaic comedy with Yes Man.

***

UPCOMING DVD RELEASES:
Dec. 16
Mamma Mia! The Movie. One of our guy friends, who was dragged kicking and screaming to the ABBA musical during its theatrical release, reports that it “wasn’t too bad.”
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. The third time usually isn’t a charm, but they did add Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh and Maria Bello to the cast.

Dec. 19
The House Bunny. A Playmate is forced out of Hef’s mansion and brings her considerable skills to a sorority house.
Traitor. Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle stars in this espionage-heavy international thriller.

Dec. 21
Burn After Reading. The Coen Brothers, fresh from the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, return to full-on funny form.
Death Race. Remake of the Roger Corman “classic” for the video game generation.
Hamlet 2. The incredibly funny Steve Coogan stars as a high school drama teacher who writes and stages a musical sequel to Shakespeare’s tragedy.
The Women. The ultimate female-bonding flick, this remake of George Cukor’s golden oldie stars Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, Cloris Leachman, Carrie Fisher and Candice Bergen.

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