Milk (2008)

Harvey Milk Deserves More Than Awards Season Hollywood

Despite the fact that it's quite far from being a cinematical masterpiece, Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain was a landmark on many aspects. It was one of the few gay-themed films ever to be nominated for Best Picture in Academy Awards. More importantly it was the first gay romance/drama to receive mainstream appreciation throughout the world. It was one of the rare cases where an Asian director tackled an entirely American concept and succeeded in telling a highly-sensitive story. But maybe the most important one of such landmarks has brought more harm than good, because Ang Lee's film has emphasized the phenomenon of a heterosexual actor portraying a gay character on screen more boldly than ever before and equated the notion, in our heads, to talent and success in acting. Provided that there isn't something disastrously wrong with them, the perception of such performances has been permanently defaulted to critical acclaim after Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Gus Van Sant's Milk is one of latest films to exploit this newly-found weak spot among critical circles. Encapsulating a universal message of tolerance and understanding, featuring a talented actor in the leading role playing a heroic but also eccentric historical figure and following a smooth and conventional plotline, the release date of Milk should come off as no surprise to anyone.

Whatever I have written for my review of Frost/Nixon (or more precisely, whatever Jim Emerson has written for me) is obviously valid here as well. Rob Epstein's Oscar-winning 1984 documentary The Times of Harvey Milk renders Gus Van Sant's Milk utterly useless, save for the star-driven entertainment factor. How inconsiderate it is for Van Sant to take the story which is sensitively and masterfully told by Epstein and reduce it to this level, is yet another legitimate question to ask; but one thing is certain: It is quite disillusioning to see the famed director take the easy way out of this one.

As for Sean Penn, I don't think his depiction of Harvey Milk is particularly bad. On the contrary, I think it's quite entertaining to watch him and everyone around him as well for the duration of the whole film (Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin and James Franco are only a portion of Milk's the ensemble cast). As opposed to what the majority seems to be thinking though, I don't see anything going on here that is more significant than, say, Dustin Hoffman in Last Chance Harvey or Clive Owen in Shoot 'Em Up. It's mere simple-minded, relaxing fun.

In Jim Emerson's own words: "Watch these clips from The Times of Harvey Milk to discover resonant details that didn't make the Hollywood cut."

I will add only three more points to Emerson's rather short double-review:

1. Having witnessed the same phenomenon twice in 2008 made me realize one disgusting fact: Unless an issue becomes the subject of an entertainment-driven, multi-million dollar oscar-bait that is strategically released towards the end of the year and opens to wide critical acclaim, it will not garner attention. How important the issue is quite irrelevant. It doesn't even matter if someone was able to display a striking expertise in handling the subject and make a far superior documentary only a couple of years ago. People will take the bait and old school Hollywood oversimplification will win over his work to be declared 'a masterpiece'.

2. Along with the simplify-for-entertainment attitude, Milk embodies another atrocity often encouraged by the awards authorities: 'Imitate someone famous to grab a statuette'. This film is another one of those cases where actors cease to be actors and become mere impersonators. We, as the 21st century audience on the other hand, have learned well to shape our tastes in harmony with these handful of awards shows, all of which tend to favor such performances over others. We are constantly mesmerized by how similar an actor looks to the actual historical figure and how they talk in exactly the same way; all the while forgetting about everything else that makes a great film (or a great performance for that matter). Sean Penn in Milk is only this year's example; if you go back only a few years, similar cases are many.

Next time you see a semi-fictional biography, award yourself with this thinking exercise: Is there anything else to the film, other than the 'acting' job that has win you over? And is there anything else that the actor is able to accomplish, other than a decent impersonation of the celebrity?

3. The best way to tell the story of a historical figure is not necessarily going through everything he has accomplished in his life, one by one, as if lining up beads on a string. Like Todd Haynes of I'm Not There, one should have a firm understanding of the man himself and then reflect that information on screen using all the facilities made available by the language of cinema. Any less effort than this is a lazy attempt. In order not to risk misunderstanding, I will make one thing very clear: It is not my intention, by saying this, to formulate a standard approach to making semi-fictional biographies. I just want to stress that sometimes, for some people, what happened in their lives is not enough to define who they are.

Harvey Milk is such a person.

5/10

Note: This article is a part of the 2008 awards season review series which will be the primary feature of The Long Take until the Oscar Night. The information below will be updated as listed awards are handed out and more nominations are announced.

Nominated For:

• Best Achievement in Costume Design (Danny Glicker) - Academy Awards
• Best Achievement in Directing (Gus Van Sant) - Academy Awards
• Best Achievement in Editing (Elliot Graham) - Academy Awards
• Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score (Danny Elfman) - Academy Awards
• Best Motion Picture of the Year - Academy Awards
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Sean Penn) - Academy Awards
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Josh Brolin) - Academy Awards
• Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Dustin Lance Black) - Academy Awards

• Best Edited Feature Film, Dramatic (Elliot Graham) - American Cinema Editors

• Excellence in Production Design, Period Films (Bill Groom) - Art Directors Guild

• Best Film - BAFTA Awards
  
• Best Leading Actor (Sean Penn) - BAFTA Awards
  
• Best Make up & Hair (Steven E. Anderson & Michael White) - BAFTA Awards
  
• Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black) - BAFTA Awards

• Best Actor (Sean Penn) - Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
  
• Best Director (Gus Van Sant) - Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
  
• Best Original Score (Danny Elfman) - Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
  
• Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black) - Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
  
• Best Picture - Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

• Excellence in Costume Design for Film, Period (Danny Glicker) - Costume Designers Guild Awards

• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (Gus Van Sant) - Directors Guild of America

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama (Sean Penn) - Golden Globes

• Best Cinematography (Harris Savides) - Independent Spirit Awards
  
• Best First Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black) - Independent Spirit Awards
  
• Best Male Lead (Sean Penn) - Independent Spirit Awards
  
• Best Supporting Male (James Franco) - Independent Spirit Awards

• Actor of the Year (Sean Penn) - London Critics Circle Film Awards
  
• Director of the Year (Gus Van Sant) - London Critics Circle Film Awards
  
• Film of the Year - London Critics Circle Film Awards

• Motion Picture Producer of the Year (Dan Jinks & Bruce Cohen) - Producers Guild of America
  

• Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Screen Actors Guild Awards
• Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Josh Brolin) - Screen Actors Guild Awards

• Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black) - Writers Guild of America
  

Won:

• Best Actor (Sean Penn) - Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
  
• Best Director (Gus Van Sant) - Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
  
• Best Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black) - Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

• Best Actor (Sean Penn) - Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

• Best Supporting Actor (Josh Brolin) - National Board of Review

• Best Actor (Sean Penn) - New York Film Critics Circle Awards
• Best Supporting Actor (Josh Brolin) - New York Film Critics Circle Awards
• Best Picture - New York Film Critics Circle Awards

• Stanley Kramer Award - Producers Guild of America

• Best Actor (Sean Penn) - Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards
• Best Picture - Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards
  
• Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black) - Southeastern Film Critics Association

• Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Sean Penn) - Screen Actors Guild Awards

• Ten Best Movies of the Year - American Film Institute Awards