Van Sant back on (mainstream) track

Rating: Null/10 (20 February 2009)

For people who love mainstream movies "Good Will Hunting" (1997) and "Finding Forrester" (2000), it is good news to see Gus Van Sant taking a leave from experimental projects to make "Milk" which is anything but experimental. Nor is it a film which at a cursory glance may seem ideal material for gay and lesbian film festivals. "Milk" expands gay rights issue to minority rights issue (for the "us's; you've got to give them hope", as Harvey Milk concludes) to embrace the general audience, and has done a rather successful job.
The gay element is tackled head-on right at the beginning at the first encounter outside a New York subway station between Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) and Scott Smith (played wonderfully by James Franco) who are destined to become lovers, soul mates, activist comrades, ex-lover but life-long friends. Sadly, "life-long" was not long. To those few who walk into the cinema still not knowing that the story ends with the death of the hero by assassination, the tragic conclusion is revealed right at the beginning.
The opening scene shows Milk in 1978 dictating a speech to be publicised in the event of his being assassinated, then a quick cut to the live newsreel announcing his assassination. The narration then moves back to 1970 for the aforementioned establishing scene of Milk as a gay man, and moves on briskly to show him in many other roles, including a devoted fan of Tosca the opera. First and foremost, however, Milk is a politician.
The main body of the film depicts his political fight, supported by a group of devoted friends, against the likes of Anita Bryant (archive footage) and State Senator John Briggs (Denis O'Hare). Penn has given the audience a convincing portrayal of Milk not only as a gay man or as a successful politician, but as a many-faceted human being. Despite his mild disposition, he is an amazingly stubborn fighter. But he is also exceptionally compassionate and caring. His second lover (in this movie) starts out as a young man showing up one evening at the door of his campaign office, confused and lost. Unfortunately, Jack Lira (a Diego Luna, who reminds you of young Johnny Debb) turns out to be a liability to both Milk's personal/emotional as well as his political life. His indulgence in the slightly neurotic and definitely temperamental Lira takes a heavy emotional toll.
With liberal use of live footage (including Walter Cronkite), "Milk" has the authenticity of a documentary. Indeed, at the end when the ensuing stories of the various characters are told in text, still shots of the actors' portrayal dissolve into real life photos (and in many cases they look amazingly alike!). Despite the tragic end, the movie is realistic rather than melodramatic. It is both a deserving portrait of an exceptional man and an instructional discourse on an important event in recent American history.