Good film, outstanding Penn

Rating: 8/10 (14 February 2009)

Not being American and not being gay I had no idea what this film was about. I had not read any reviews of it and I went to see it because I am an unconditional fan of Sean Penn as an actor (not so much as a director). And I have to say that my intuition was correct - this is another superb performance from the man. From a physical standpoint, his depiction of Harvey Milk is uncontrived and extremely well observed. From the standpoint of character, merit must be shared with Director van Sant and the screen writing team but he certainly emerges as a plausible, life-like person with qualities such as generosity, love, caring for his neighbour (especially if gay), and a positive ambition for politics, along with the flaws of backstabbing and selfishness that any politician must have to survive. Most interesting of all, though, is the conflict that pits Penn and Josh Brolin in the role of fellow San Francisco Mayor's Office supervisor Dan White. They could not be more different: Milk is gay - a status largely unaccepted and even derided at the time - while White is heterosexual, married, and with children to boost his image as a more conventional politician. Yet, as the film wears on one realizes how much more unbalanced, vindictive, politically incorrect and ultimately murderous White is and how the unacceptably gay Milk is the type of person society really needs to grow because of his ability to listen, care, get involved, and share thoughts. Brolin and Franco ably support Penn with outstanding performances. Director van Sant reconstructs the San Francisco of the 1970's with great conviction and attention to detail (his depiction of the crowds in hippie and liberal attire is astonishing). Historic events surface unobtrusively, keeping the film chronologically situated and credible, in addition to providing much needed information that never interferes with the development of the central character and the action around him. In addition to excellent and never pervasive camera work, Van Sant uses the flashback technique in a far subtler way than I have seen in any film I can remember. Having watched the competition for the Academy Awards (apart from The Reader) I would confidently vote for Penn as best actor, van Sant as best director, and Milk as best picture.