Given the events of the past month, it is difficult to imagine a more politically poignant film than Gus Van Sant's "Milk." Amid all the clamoring for change that has resoundingly sounded from liberal America this fall, amid all the social progress being made from coast to coast, the movement for gay rights has been the lone straggler. Voters everywhere are standing up against social change, and nowhere is that more surprising than in California. The Golden State has a history of fighting for equal rights for gays, not against them -- and with impeccable timing, Van Sant has chosen to tell the story of the man who began that history.
"Milk," which finally sees nationwide release this Friday, is the story of a community organizer finding success in the job before it was cool. Van Sant's film, written by Dustin Lance Black and produced by the Academy Award-winning team of Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, is the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. Simply put, it is one of the best biopics ever made.
Milk, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, first found an interest in politics in 1970 at the age of 40 and was dead by 1978. This is the story of the eight years in between, and it stars one of the finest actors of his generation in arguably the best performance of his career. Sean Penn, who at age 48 portrays the title character's journey to his untimely death at that same age, is unforgettable.
To fully understand the accomplishment of Sean Penn in "Milk," one must consider its place within the range of his career. In "The Thin Red Line" (1998), Penn played a World War II sergeant, cold and antisocial. In "All the King's Men" (2006), he was the famous protagonist Willie Stark, greedy and corrupt. In "Mystic River" (2003), his Jimmy Markum was bold and lawlessly rebellious. That performance earned him his first Oscar; to earn what may well be his second, Penn has dug a little deeper.
As Milk, Penn is in a role unlike any other in his career -- and not just in the obvious way. He possesses a dazzling ability to make the audience care -- not just about his character, but about his character's cause. He gives unique life not only to Harvey Milk, but also to the spirit of the entire gay rights movement in California in the 1970s. As Milk passionately speaks to the throngs of people he self-deprecatingly calls "my fellow degenerates," it's impossible not to feel for the men and women -- most of them young, all of them misunderstood -- in his audience. Penn creates a kind of passion that may even transcend one's individual political views. One can only imagine what would have happened had "Milk" been released before Election Day.
The cast around Penn is superb as well. James Franco shines in his role as Milk's first lover, and Diego Luna is a pleasant surprise as his second. Josh Brolin, at the tail end of a spectacular two-year run of critical and box-office successes, is compelling as Dan White, a fellow city supervisor in San Francisco who gradually reveals his homophobia and emerges as Milk's rival. Perhaps the most interesting supporting performance comes from Emile Hirsch, who starred in Penn's recent directorial debut, "Into the Wild" (2007), and now plays the perfect complement to Penn's Milk.
Hirsch, as the young and outspoken Cleve Jones, has an intriguing arc. Jones begins the film as an apathetic teenager, uninterested in government and seeming to care about nothing but getting away. Over time, he becomes Milk's closest political ally. Beginning with a student internship in Milk's office, he slowly learns to revere, almost worship, his fearless leader. Milk, however, insists that it isn't about him -- he memorably declares that he is not the candidate. "The movement," he says, "is the candidate."
Milk was assassinated in 1978, but the movement is still running without him. It scored a minor victory in the '70s, and three decades later, it has faced a significant setback, one eerily concurrent with the release of Van Sant's film. But for those still fighting for Milk's movement, there is still the hope that a film this beautiful, with performances this brilliant, can change a few minds about the future of the gay rights movement. And "without hope," Milk famously said, "life is not worth living. You've gotta give them hope."
