Milk is one of those rare films that remains entirely gripping even though the audience knows the outcome before they enter the cinema. From the opening scenes of archival footage of police raids of gay bars we know this is going to be a serious and moving film. Penn’s astonishing Oscar-winning, nuanced portrayal of Harvey Milk, gay rights activist and the first self-identified gay man to be voted into public office in California, covers the years between 1970 and his death in 1978.
During this period Milk changed from an unpolitical man to a national symbol whose decisions transformed his own life and the lives of many others. Forming an alliance with a range of disadvantaged sectors of San Francisco’s community, Milk gained office along with the loathing of the anti-gay sector of US society including gay-hating Anita Bryant a national figure. Yet it was Dan White (Oscar-nominated Josh Brolin) an ex-politician and ex-colleague of Milk that shot him (as well as Mayor George Moscone).
The film is not entirely clear whether White’s dismissal from office was the true motivation for Milks murder. Gus Van Sant’s Milk is a celebratory portrait of the man. It also represents a departure for the director whose other films include the more detached and chilly Elephant, Last Days and Paranoid Park. Working with documentarist Dustin Lance Black, Van Sant here co-creates a warmer, more emotional and politically-committed film. Milk is beautifully constructed splicing in 1970s footage and encouraging such accurate portrayals from his cast that it is often difficult to tell which is contemporary film and which is new. The narrative, characterisation and tension are judged so skilfully that two hours will pass without external thoughts intruding.
In the more than 30 years since Milk’s death, rather than adopt more liberal attitudes towards homosexuality, America has returned to more fundamentalist values. It makes the film even more poignant. Kevin Murphy, Tiscali uk
This is one of the Penn’s greatest roles, effortlessly capturing Milks warmth, vibrancy, compassion, and ambition. David Cornelius e-filmcritic.com
