I am here to recruit you! (Milk (DVD))

Member Name: excelsior81

Product:	Milk (DVD)
Date:	22/02/09 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An amaxing true story

Disadvantages: Not one

I had the pleasure of seeing Milk last week and I must say that I was very much impressed with the story. I always took pride that I knew lots about the struggle for gay rights and always saw myself as a man who knew his background and his history.... after seeing this film I realised that there was so much that I just didn't know!

Milk is the story of a confident gay man in the 1970's and his rise to being the first openly gay American politician.

It is a truly remarkable film for so many reasons and huge credit must be given to Sean Penn and the supporting cast who portray the main characters just so brilliantly. The casting is excellent and if you don't believe me, just watch the end of the film when they give a short biopic moment to each of the main characters and show you the actor and the real person....genius!

The film is based in the 70's and what it does so brilliantly is use authentic film from the period and also views of the city filmed on cini film to give the viewer the gritty feel of the period.

I thought the film was very well done and also, reflective of the homophobia of the period and the almost ghettoisation of America at the time, we muct remember as viewers that Black rights and gay rights were actually new ideas in America and those who were different from the norm were villified in public.

Harvey Milk stands for freedom of choice and freedom to be who you want to be, but his policies are also a good reflection of right wing America, he believes in low taxation and in many ways reflects a right wing agenda...weird eh! But that is what I thin kmakes him appealing to so many. Apaprt from his sexual preference he does not fulfill a gay stereotype and the film is full of them!

I was enraptured with this film from the start to the finish and I learnt huge amounts about the gay rights movement in its infancy. The film is full of strong characters who fill the screen with their stories and also support Harvey Milk in his desore to be elected...it is brilliantly done and by the end of the film, I really understood not just Milk, but also the main people supporting him and the trials of life that had led them to him...it was like an invisible path had guided them to him and encouraged them to take part in the historical struggle.


There are moments of sheer genius in the film:

* The way Milk continues to fight elections even though he loses

* Milks Catchphrase...it is inspiring

* The end of the film...with something that involves 30,000 people


I left the cinema crying, happy and proud...it was a strong emotional response to a brilliantly written and directed film.

Summary: A must see fiilm of the year