Film: Milk

[TheSpade]

I'm sure we probably have a thread about this and this will be closed but a search showed nothing.

The story of California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, a San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone by San Francisco Supervisor Dan White.

Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3658547225/

So what did you think of it?

Personally thought it was great, excellent offering from Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn is excellent in, what a great portrayel of Harvey Milk.

 

[His Name Is Frank]

Rate this movie.

 

[Too many doses]

I just got the bootleg, great film and I was suprised at how convincing a gay man sean Penn played. I'd recommend it to anyone on the fence about this film.

 

[Feels]

I like Van Sant better when he's in experimental mode, but it was a great film and Penn and Brolin were fantastic.

 

[magnoliafan]

Really good, with great performances pretty much all around. Probably my second pick after Frost/Nixon for best picture.

 

[TheSpade]

How come no one has made a thread about this already? Not a big release in the states?

Totally different to other Van Sant films like Paranoid Park or Elephant for example but excellent stuff I thought. Story was well told and acting was superb.

 

[tribal girl]

Each one of his films is different, Spadey. That's partly why he's one of my favourite directors. It keeps it fresh and unpredictable. But oftentimes he gets a little too 'artsy' for some peoples tastes. Like with Last Days for example. A lot of people hated it, especially the hardcore Cobain fans/idiots. And whilst it was painful to watch in terms of the way the scenes were dragged out, that was kinda the point of it. At least in my mind.

Anyway, I thought Milk was wonderful in many ways. The actors did an amazing job, plus I really enjoyed the original footage spliced in between the new film. The soundtrack was also excellent.

 

[Chaos Butterfly]

Absolutely loved it.

It really hit me.

As a gay man living now, who didn't really know anything about this whole drama, it just highlights how much better things are now. Yes there are still fucked up things happening to gay people because of their sexual preference, but the outright hostility and political isolation that used to be the norm has in some way been alleviated.

I like a lot of Van Sant's work, but this is my favourite. Mostly because of the subject matter, but also because it is a fantastic film.

CB.

 

[indelibleface]

I loved it. I don't know what else to say other than I thought it was fantastic. The performances seemed so legitimate - the chemistry between the characters seemed so genuine. What a great way to tell this story. It really makes me want to move to the Castro, damnit.

 

[Too many doses]

Absolutely loved it.

It really hit me.

As a gay man living now, who didn't really know anything about this whole drama, it just highlights how much better things are now. Yes there are still fucked up things happening to gay people because of their sexual preference, but the outright hostility and political isolation that used to be the norm has in some way been alleviated.

I like a lot of Van Sant's work, but this is my favourite. Mostly because of the subject matter, but also because it is a fantastic film.

CB.

It's really cool hearing a gay mans opinion on this film as I wondered what they would think of this film while I was watching it. This is one of my thinking out loud posts lol.

 

[Raz]

Yeah, I'm with CB....there were scenes in this where I was fully crying...I felt that the movie took a little while to kick off, and there were times when the momentum stalled a little, but all in all I loved it and I think it should be required viewing for anyone interested in civil rights and especially for gay kids who are coming out without having any appreciation of the sacrifices heaps of people had to make for us to be able to do that.

Initially I thought Sean Penn was camping it up a bit too much, but when they showed footage of the actual Harvey Milk after the end credits, I was shocked at how perfectly he captured his mannerisms/facial expression/etc...

I'm also glad they didn't take the easy route and portray Dan White as a homophobic villain without any depth of character beyond being "the bad guy". It was quite obvious that he was a very conflicted troubled man.

I read a review of this film in one of the local papers where the reviewer said that it should never have been made a feature film because it would only apply to a "fringe of society" or some shit like that, and it made me really mad....we don't need bullshit like Brokeback Mountain, which reinforces the idea that being gay is horrible and tragic, we need things like this, which affirm where we have come from, that we exist in the world and that we have every right to exist in the world. What happened to Harvey Milk was obviously tragic, but seeing the footage of 30,000 people marching united after his assassination....even thinking of it now I'm getting all teary.

The world needs to know about people like Harvey Milk as much as it needs to know about any other crusader for human rights.

 

[L2R]

beautiful film. i haven't seen many van sant films, but i do like this one most of all the ones i've seen.

 

[alasdairm]

as somebody who considers san francisco home in many ways, i was familiar with the story. i loved the movie. gus van sant seemed to capture the feeling of the city so well and, while it sounds like a bit of a cliche, i forgot completely that sean penn was playing a character called milk - he just became milk.

a moving, inspiring, shocking story, told well.

alasdair

 

[L2R]

i laughed out loud on the short clever intro to the opera scene where the blurred out massively volumptuous diva bending over and singing looked much like a "singing cock n balls".

 

[TheSpade]

You've lost me...

 

[PureLife]

I'm sick of straight people trying to play gay people. How do you play a gay person in a film if your straight? Do you give limp hands and other stereotypical gay gestures? Jesus christ, I'm happy this movie got loads of shit in the gay community. Check out the OUT article that was posted in their Feb. publishing.

Should we have white actors playing african americans in films as well? Should they live in city housing and smoke blunts and call each other brother because thats how YOU think African Americans act?

 

[TheSpade]

Sean Penn played Harvey Milk better than anyone could have. It was a phenomonal performance. At first I thought he was over the top and too camp but once I'd seen just how camp Milk was and how spot on Penn had it I was amazed. He absolutely nailed it!

How can a straight person not play a gay person? By your reasoning how can any actor play any character or person which they are not.

Poor argument.

 

[alasdairm]

How do you play a gay person in a film if your straight?

this is the very definition of the word acting.

have you seen milk? how familiar are you with harvey milk? what aspects of sean's performance do you feel failed to grasp the character or caricatured the man?

alasdair

 

[tribal girl]

By your reasoning how can any actor play any character or person which they are not.

You make a good point there, Spade.

 

[Chaos Butterfly]

Sean Penn played Harvey Milk better than anyone could have. It was a phenomonal performance. At first I thought he was over the top and too camp but once I'd seen just how camp Milk was and how spot on Penn had it I was amazed. He absolutely nailed it!

How can a straight person not play a gay person? By your reasoning how can any actor play any character or person which they are not.

Poor argument.

Totally agree.

It's called acting.

It is not at all disrespectful to the gay community that a straight actor is playing a gay role. It can be seen as disrespectful by the minority of gay society that are so extreme in their need for 'absolute equality' that they are almost fundamentalist in their regime.

It was a fantastic performance in a fantastic film that brought attention to some serious issues regarding the gay community. I for one think that the gay community should say THANK YOU, instead of bitching over semantics.

This is one of the reasons that as a gay man I refuse to take part in 'gay society' their bitching and drama can go and get fucked.