Click to play videoCast: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch
Direction: Gus Van Sant
Milk, directed by Gus Van Sant, is a conventional but nevertheless daring film about America's first openly gay elected politician Harvey Milk. That role is played by Sean Penn, who creates an astonishingly accurate portrait of Milk by not only physically modeling himself after the slain activist, but by faultlessly duplicating Milk's slightly awkward physical presence and his upbeat attitude.
The film is a joyful document of San Francisco's gay movement in the seventies as seen through the life and work of its most popular civil rights campaigner. While it is unquestionably a solid political film, you cannot deny that Milk is also a deeply affectionate bio-pic of a largely overlooked hero.
Harvey Milk was a cheerful New Yorker who moved to San Francisco shortly after his fortieth birthday, opened a camera store in the city's increasingly popular gay neighborhood, and on his third attempt in 1977 was elected to the board of city supervisors. Barely 11 months in office, Milk was killed along with the city's liberal mayor by his conflicted conservative colleague at City Hall, but not before he was able to build a strong reputation as a voice in opposition to prejudices against gay people.
Penn plays Harvey Milk with genuine warmth, and goes for the human beneath the icon, portraying him as a doting lover to his boyfriend, a father figure to every confused teenager he met, and a fun-loving friend to his associates working on his campaign. It's Penn's performance that is the highlight of Milk; watch him as he brilliantly goes from shy and self-conscious at first, to the fearless trailblazer he becomes eventually.
The film itself is remarkable for its attention to detail and its creative use of archival material. Director Gus Van Sant uses his cast bravely, encouraging them to perform on instinct.
Josh Brolin is pitch-perfect as Milk's colleague and eventual murderer Dan White whose growing contempt for Milk is a slow-burning build-up that Brolin creates superbly. James Franco is heart-breakingly earnest as Milk's early lover, and Emile Hirsch and Diego Luna add colour as Milk's campaign associate and his needy later partner respectively.
Milk is a good film, engaging and inspiring even, but it's biggest strength is Sean Penn and his landmark performance. Hence three stars for the film and one more just for the man at the heart of the film. Four out of five for Gus Van Sant's Milk. Watch it to understand what terrific acting is all about.
Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
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