I recognize that I am a little late to the discussion here, but simply because Gus Van Sant's biopic of slain San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk did not enjoy the widest theater distribution across Canada last winter does not mean that it should not receive more attention now that it is on video. It was, after all, nominated for best picture.
The film begins with the reporting of the protagonist's murder, and so the plot has a sickening inevitability followed through to the graphic shooting scene in which rival politician Dan White crawls through a window, seeks those individuals against whom he holds grudges, and starts shooting. For some people's taste, the film lacks pace and seems "documentary-like." I found that the impending dread helped maintain focus, and while I have never liked Van Sant's pacing, I found this film a return to his earliest and best form, from films like Drugstore Cowboy (1989) and My Own Private Idaho (1991). From the technical perspective, I was most impressed by Van Sant's vivid representation of 1970s San Francisco, where the Castro became a nurturing enclave for the gay community, under the watchful eye of an intolerant police force.
Because the film is Milk's, though, the screen belongs to Sean Penn. We see the character go from a disgruntled, semi-closeted cubicle dweller to outspoken gay rights activist by degree. The story follows him to California, where prejudice forces him to agitate, where the opportunity to influence a wider range of people sees him seek greater respectability. Cutting his hair and eschewing bath houses are personal milestones.
Generally speaking, I prefer the directing work of Sean Penn. His Into the Wild (2007) and The Pledge (2001) are two of my favorite films of the past ten years. When given a canvas this big, I find that, as an actor, he tends to chew the scenery. He goes all I Am Sam on us. He does well in ensemble casts, like when he played Jimmie Markum in Mystic River (2003), or in supporting roles, like when he played David Kleinfeld in Carlito's Way (1993). But Penn is in virtually every shot here, and the performance is captivating. There is the tendency to treat Milk as a saint, and so I appreciated the attempt to portray him as a more complex, nuanced politician.
What I thought was lost was the promise of the supporting cast. Emile Hirsch, so dynamic as Chris McCandless in Into the Wild, is utterly muted as Cleve Jones. The same is true for Josh Brolin, though he received his own Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Dan White. It is possible in these stories that the assassin can take over the screen, though that is never a concern here. The tortured depths of White are only ever suggested. The one exception might be James Franco's excellent performance as Scott Smith. While the "type," the neglected political spouse, has been done to death, Franco's inherent likability makes Smith sympathetic, even if he too is underdeveloped.
This film is not about same-sex marriage, per se, but its present context was thus framed by Dustin Lance Black, when he accepted his Oscar for best screenplay. "... If Harvey had not been taken from us thirty years ago," Black said, "I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches or the government or by their families that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and very soon, I promise, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours."
I am reminded, at such times, about how much my life has been enriched by people who suffer persecution simply because of their sexual preference. Gay people are responsible for many of my favorite books, many of my favorite poems and plays, many of my favorite albums, many of my favorite films. There are many ways to approach a human rights issue, a minority rights issue. This is simply how my personal thinking has developed. I have come to feel, increasingly, as though I have used these people while remaining complicit in their mistreatment. Hardly a taught course goes by without me thinking about Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein's partner for forty years, who suffered great poverty after Stein's death simply because she had no right to inherit the lucrative art collection they gathered through the first half of the twentieth century. I respect traditionalists, and I respect religious people. But while I believe this film has flaws, I could not help but be moved by its wider messages.
The Canadian media is currently enduring another insufferable debate about what "makes a conservative." As I have said many times in this space, a conservative, for me, is someone who does not simply throw out what works well because something new comes along. A conservative should protect what is best about who we have been. In this case, all conservatives can look back and examine how marriage rights have been extended in the past and just do the right thing.
Comments