Milk
April 2009 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: Blu-ray	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Milk is director Gus Van Sant’s best movie so far, and that’s saying a lot, because he also made Good Will Hunting, My Own Private Idaho, To Die For, and Elephant, all of them critically acclaimed. It tells the true story of Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), an activist, shaker, and mover in the San Francisco community, a really average man who was destined, mostly from dedication, to become a hero and martyr to the gay constituents he fought for. Milk became the first openly gay man to hold an important public office when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, but he was assassinated, along with mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber), before the end of his first year in office by Dan White (Josh Brolin), a disgruntled Board of Supervisors member who had always argued with Milk and had just resigned his position.

Sean Penn plays Milk as if he was the man himself; tempering dynamic charisma with a tenderness and compassion that are incredibly moving. He’s surrounded with a perfect supporting cast. Josh Brolin is convincingly brooding and ominous as White; James Franco seems to embody the era as Milk’s partner, Scott Smith; and Emile Hirsch is effervescence itself as Cleve Jones, former hustler and Milk supporter. The movie is primarily about Milk’s public life, but we are shown glimpses of a personal life that seems disjointed and far from perfect.

I would have expected the film to be poignant and dramatic, but I did not expect the humor that wells up from most scenes. This film brings back not only tragic memories but, more important, memories of a time of activists in this country, a time when citizens made a difference -- a positive time. Van Sant and his crew capture the period perfectly, the director using different angles and devices to keep us in the moment. My only complaint is that the staging makes the Castro district of San Francisco, where gays from all over the world took refuge, seem like it is only two blocks long, when it is much larger. At the very end of the movie, during the candlelight march after Milk’s death, the camera opens up to reveal a procession over a mile long, which finally gives a view of the full impact the man had on people.

The video transfer to Blu-ray is excellent. The movie is a skillful mix of new and documentary footage, so the apparent quality fluctuates quite a bit. The newly filmed scenes are sharp and clean as can be, with good, natural color saturation. The audio is rich and full and well focused. The surround channels seem to be active most of the time, yet most often are so subdued they can’t be providing more than ambience. It’s a unique mix that works well for this movie, so who could ask more?

The extras consist of three short featurettes that are interesting yet also disappointing. It’s good to have so many people who knew Milk personally on hand for comments, but it seems curious that there’s no footage of Milk himself, or of Penn and Van Sant. It feels like Milk lite; one can sense a larger special edition down the road. BD Live is included but seems more like an advertising gimmick than a true extra.

Milk, as much docudrama as biopic, is one of the best films ever made about activism. It succeeds completely in depicting the ‘70s, and it spreads a message of hope to those who are still facing discrimination because of sexual orientation. It should have won an Academy Award, so be sure to put it on your must-see list.

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