Before Barack Obama became the first black president of the United States, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected into public office in California. Expanding his repository of films that show no fear of exploring confrontational material, avant-garde director Gus Van Sant wants you to know just how much of an impact Milk made on the prejudiced society of the 1970′s. However, he’s also made a film that desperately wants the Academy to take notice as well. Milk is the very definition of Oscar bait, where Van Sant is  the one firmly holding the rod and reel.
But who says this is a bad thing?

In the performance that might just see him win his second Best Actor Oscar, Sean Penn embodies the role of Harvey Milk; a 40 year-old Wall Street worker who is sick of living in the closet in order to keep his job and decides it’s time to be open about his sexual orientation. Supporting his decision is his long-term partner Scott Smith (James Franco), who helps Milk open a photography store in Eureka Valley, San Francisco. Yet the predominantly Irish-Catholic neighbourhood are all but impressed by their new flamboyant neighbours, boycotting them from joining the local business association. Fed up with society’s bigoted ways, Milk becomes a Gay rights activist in a hope to give equal rights to homosexuals and dispel the consensus that it’s a disorder in need of fixing. Running against Harvey for the San Francisco Supervisors board is family man Dan White (Josh Brolin), who grows bitter in resentment at the media attention Milk’s campaign begins to receive.

Within the opening minutes, the apt use of archival footage reveals the unfortunate truth that Harvey Milk is assassinated. Retold via a voice memoir that was to only be played in the event he is shot dead, this foreshadowing does cast a veil of despair over the often joyous biopic about a minority’s unyielding battle for equality. Van Sant pulls the right emotional strings with this move; just as the audience is taken by the infectious charisma and passion of Harvey Milk, we are reminded of his inevitable demise at the hands of society’s evils and become just as determined as Milk is to see changes made. Despite the impending tragedy, it’s a rewarding cinematic experience overall as every one of Milk’s many achievements is shared with the audience.

As he did in 2003 with his film Elephant, which was based on the events of the Columbine high school massacre, Gus Vant Sant’s direction makes an effort to not to sensationalise the controversial aspect of Milk. Whilst in Elephant he used handheld cameras and minimal edits to avoid over-dramatising the very real tragedy, Milk’s more straightforward direction and fearless depiction of homosexuality ultimately makes you forget there’s something controversial going on here at all. Despite many scenes that depict gay intimacy, particularly between Penn and Franco, they hardly come across as different to a scene depicting a heterosexual relationship. As much as it does feel like a blatant attempt to gain Oscar attention, given how often it occurs, it’s a praiseworthy achievement nonetheless. Van Sant must have known that getting the audience comfortable with Harvey’s sexuality on screen is an important step in getting the audience completely behind his political activism.

 

Harvey Milk’s charm, compassion and enthusiasm is ever present in Sean Penn’s tremendous performance. Certainly the most challenging role of his career, Penn’s infectious energy just flows off the screen; it’s never in question that this man was capable of energising such a ground-breaking movement.  Yet as deserving as Penn is at the Oscars, I feel that I was more taken by Mickey Rourke’s phenomenal performance in The Wrestler. After his fantastic comic performance in Pineapple Express, James Franco is underused but ever impressive as Harvey’s  initial partner Scott. In some scenes, Franco even has an eerie resemblance to the late Heath Ledger, who coincidently gained notoriety for portraying a gay cowboy in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain.

Diego Luna is also fantastic as Milk’s flamboyant boyfriend, whom despite being introduced in rather shallow terms, believably develops his growing resentment for Harvey’s blossoming political career. The screenplay slightly faults Josh Brolin’s performance as Harvey’s political rival Dan White, never really giving Brolin the time to fully develop the complexities of his important character.  The editing unfairly pins White as “the bad guy” the moment he  comes on-screen, if not just for his juxtaposition against Milk’s powerful anti-bigotry speeches, even though many of the things he stands for are completely agreeable. Yet it’s no wonder Brolin’s character ultimately seems underdeveloped; when Sean Penn takes to the screen, everyone else is instantly masked by his seemingly effortless charm.

 

 

Conclusion:

Milk is an endlessly engrossing and remarkably heartfelt story driven Sean Penn’s outstanding performance.  The fact that it’s based on a true story, one that is just as relevant today in its message of unity overcoming prejudice, makes the saddening conclusion all the more emotionally impacting. With a commercially agreeable directorial style, Gus Van Sant continues his foray into provocative cinema with what is quite possibly his best film yet. Unless Slumdog Millionaire can keep it at bay, Milk just might have what it takes to dominate at this year’s Oscars.

Follow the author Anders Wotzke on Twitter.