Milk
Yesterday,
hopeforyou, jensolo and I went to see Milk at the Castro Theatre. The venue was significant because it is a landmark of the neighbourhood where most of the film is set-my neighbourhood. The film tells what is probably the most important tale in the community, so although the cinema's main motivation is still getting bums on seats, it's doing the community service by advertising it so boldly.
I took this photo from half a kilometre away on Corona Heights. A dad pointed it out to his eight-year-old son, and explained that Harvey Milk was somebody who helped stop gay people from being hurt and mistreated, and that he was a very important man. He is so right.
The thing that impressed me most about the film was the character likenesses. Archival footage was inserted throughout the film, and for some characters it was far from obvious what was filmed in the 1970s and what was filmed this year. This goes as much for Sean Penn as anybody else; I never met Harvey Milk but I feel he was portrayed accurately and respectfully, and he was apparently quite cute when he had long hair. =)
There wasn't much suspense in the first half of the film: Harvey Milk's fate was known from the get-go. I felt his first few attempts at public office were glossed over a bit, and a couple of the jumps through history left me feeling a bit confused. But the first half also had what will probably be the most lasting impression of the film for me, where Milk had just turned 40, and said he hadn't done anything with his life. I've been having a bit of a hard time turning 36, and knowing that even celebrated LGBT heroes can feel this way at 40 was inspiring.
The second half was better: more suspense, and I learnt more. I was struck by the film's compassionate portrayal of Dan White: the line 'Dan White has issues' will no doubt be repeated over and over, but there was also some insight into what those issues were, apart from junk food. And while Milk was the hero throughout the film, his flaws were also portrayed, in a way that made him seem more human, but not less admirable.
If you're hoping to see lots of snogging men, the film delivers, and it also makes it easy to imagine what the Castro was like in the 1970s. There were a few obvious flaws: traffic lights literally said 'WAIT' and 'WALK' in those days (the hand and walking symbols are a much later invention) and the film's location people could've driven a few miles to find a freeway sign that said 'San Francisco' that was still made of the old-fashioned reflective beads, and didn't feature exit numbers, which have only appeared in the Bay Area in the last few years. And I'm pretty sure that antique shop wasn't there when Harvey Milk's camera shop was over the road! But in general, the film remained true to period. I'd love to know how they managed to show Harvey Milk on his soapbox on Castro and Market, without showing the plaza that is now named after him.
The queue for the film was enormous; it went right down Castro Street and two blocks down 18th. But the grand old Castro Theatre, with 1400 seats and an organ player before the start of the film, accommodated everyone, and is the perfect place to see it. You should go.
And afterwards, stop by Harvey Milk Plaza, where the big rainbow flag waves proudly. They've added some photos in tribute to the man, a man I'll always admire.