Sometimes movies sound Oscar-worthy even before you see them. The Academy likes biopics, unconventional heroes, historical drama and political martyrs. Somewhat like Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982) Milk ticks all those boxes. And what’s more, it stars the always-exceptional Sean Penn: three times Oscar-nominee (Dead Man Walking; Sweet and Lowdown; I Am Sam) and Best Actor of 2004 (Mystic River).
Milk dramatizes the true story of America’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk. An ex-investment banker, hippie and camera-store owner, he ran for office three times, facing down the Christian Right, death threats and rivalry from within San Francisco’s political establishment, to finally became a city supervisor in 1977.
Milk campaigned courageously for an end to “the lies, the myths, the distortions” surrounding homosexuality, stating in a speech, “We are coming out to tell the truths about gays, for I am tired of the conspiracy of silence, so I’m going to talk about it.” His so-called “Hope” speech became a rallying cry for the LBGT community, and as a supervisor Milk successfully passed a gay rights law prohibiting discrimination in employment and housing.
Charismatic, excitable and generous, the media-savvy Milk also had an innate sense of drama and understood the power of his own symbolism. He left a tape recording with a lawyer for release in case of his own assassination, including the plangent line: “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door”.
Tragically, the first part of that plea was all too soon played out. After only eleven months in office, Milk was shot twice in the head by a political rival, Dan White; the only supervisor to have voted against Milk’s gay rights legislation.
Milk’s death and the subsequent trial of his murderer accelerated the process of gay emancipation in the U.S. but sadly not all the closet doors are yet destroyed. As the Huffington Post reported, Sarah Palin’s church recently promoted a conference promising to straighten out gays through prayer; Palin herself opposes gay marriage.
As an outsider battling prejudice and preaching a message of hope, Milk of course also bears comparison with a certain Presidential nominee (except, we hope, in their fate). The film’s distributors must have born this in mind when planning its release; Milk will premiere in San Francisco the week before the U.S. elections.
Hey Easy, Lovely to see you. I was trying to think of the trailer which you should feature next when we were speaking yesterday and this was it but I had tip of the tongue syndrome. I also think Doubt looks really interesting and maybe one for next week! x