Where There’s a Will There’s a Way

Penn Shines as Gay Activist Milk

 by Morgan P Salvo


I was there. Twice. The first time was in San Francisco’79 when Dan White shot and killed Harvey Milk and George Moscone. The second time was at the Castro theatre for the opening week showing of Milk, almost 30 years later. It was a special, bittersweet night.
Milk is directed by Gus Van Sant, an openly gay director who is known for diverse films ranging from Drugstore Cowboy to Good Will Hunting. Harvey Milk was an openly gay activist with political aspirations, determined to improve civil rights for homosexuals. Dubbed “The Mayor of Castro Street”, he become so embroiled in the system as to become one of SF’s Supervisors—not because he wanted to be political per se but rather it was more about doing the right thing.

I lived on Castro street for two years at one point. Ironically, I felt like an outcast, calling myself the slob-hetero of the neighborhood. This year, as the token straight waiting in line for the movie, I had a similar feeling, but this time we all shared the communal interest in the subject matter, in a kind of sublime reverence.
The Castro is an ornate lavish art deco theatre at the corner of Market & Castro. Virtually unchanged it was shown prominently in the movie. After waiting in the HUGE line and finding a seat I was relieved to see The Mighty Wurlitzer was still there. A gigantic church organ with all the bells and whistles appears from under the stage and the guy playing whips into schmaltzy tunes for pre-movie entertainment, ending with the customary “San Francisco Open Your Golden Gate”. There were a couple of speakers who gave heartfelt praise for the film and meaningful activist announcements… then it was time to see Milk.
As the opening credits started with stock footage of gays being arrested for being just that---homosexual—I was expecting a lot of hoops and hollers from the crowd but they all seemed silently focused. Milk immediately takes on a sympathetic viewpoint. The movie is a bio pic telling the straight (pardon the pun) story of Harvey Milk’s (Sean Penn) rise from hippie camera shop owner to Supervisor Milk and all his relationships along the way. Of particular interest is his on/off butting of heads with fellow politician Dan White (Josh Brolin). There are skimmed versions of his run in with the Advocate (the main gay newspaper at the time), his joining forces with union bosses to eliminate Coors distribution, but the main focus sheds blinding light on the fight against ultra-conservatives Anita Bryant and douche-bag John Briggs (this finally elicited boos and hisses from the crowd). Their mission was to pass Prop 6, a law designed to ban homosexuals from jobs, especially teaching. It was an evangelistic way to enforce legal discrimination. The correlation of Prop 6 and the recent Prop 8 which retracted the rights of gays to get married gives an eerie relevance to the debates and proves as a disservice to how far we think we’ve come in social and political ventures today.
There are a lot of excellent performances. Sean Penn as Milk embodies the character he is playing, so believable and immersed in the role that it ceases to be a mere portrayal. Brolin continues to amaze with his seething version of White as a repressed ex-cop with vast discrepancies in his personality. He plays the character with such inner angst that it never comes off as evil or cartoon-like; you believe him and his demons.
Milk is sadly foreboding and the story moves right along to the disastrous end. My only criticism is that it seemed too carefully constructed and controlled in the story telling. It needed more urgency to the plight it conveyed, the bio-pic mode detracted from the engrossing story.
Everyone should see this movie regardless of their beliefs. The real-life footage shown of the candle light vigil march down Castro Street, taking up what appeared to be most of San Francisco, is one of the strongest visuals in cinematic history. Milk is quoted as saying, “I am 40 years old and have never done a thing”. By 48 he had accomplished something major—civil rights for a minority, and national if not global attention to his cause. He brought tolerance to the forefront and to the coolest city in the world. I know--I was there.

Milk

Starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch
Directed Gus Van Sant
 3 1/2  stars