Milk (2008)

The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official.

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writer:

Dustin Lance Black

Stars:

Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch

Won 2 Oscars. Another 63 wins & 141 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Penn	...	Harvey Milk
Emile Hirsch	...	Cleve Jones
Josh Brolin	...	Dan White
Diego Luna	...	Jack Lira
James Franco	...	Scott Smith
Alison Pill	...	Anne Kronenberg
Victor Garber	...	Mayor Moscone
Denis O'Hare	...	John Briggs
Joseph Cross	...	Dick Pabich
Stephen Spinella	...	Rick Stokes
Lucas Grabeel	...	Danny Nicoletta
Brandon Boyce	...	Jim Rivaldo
Howard Rosenman	...	David Goodstein (as Zvi Howard Rosenman)
Kelvin Yu	...	Michael Wong
Jeff Koons	...	Art Agnos

Storyline

Using flashbacks from a statement recorded late in life and archival footage for atmosphere, this film traces Harvey Milk's career from his 40th birthday to his death. He leaves the closet and New York, opens a camera shop that becomes the salon for San Francisco's growing gay community, and organizes gays' purchasing power to build political alliances. He runs for office with lover Scott Smith as his campaign manager. Victory finally comes on the same day Dan White wins in the city's conservative district. The rest of the film sketches Milk's relationship with White and the 1978 fight against a statewide initiative to bar gays and their supporters from public school jobs.

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Plot Keywords:

gay activist | gay | gay rights | california | gay pickup | 

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Taglines:

His life changed history. His courage changed lives.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexual content and brief violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Harvey Milk Project

Filming Locations:

San Francisco Fire Department, Fire Station 43 - 720 Moscow St, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,453,844, 30 November 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$31,841,299

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$57,293,371

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Axon Films, Groundswell Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Gus Van Sant was planning a biopic of Milk in the early 90's he offered the part of Cleve Jones to River Phoenix, who he had just worked with on My Own Private Idaho (1991).

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Goofs

Several times, the characters refer to The Advocate as a magazine. In the 1970s, the Advocate was a tabloid newspaper. It became a magazine in 1992.

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Quotes

Cleve Jones: [about Jack Lira] The new Mrs. Milk. I give it a week.

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Connections

Referenced in Brows Held High: Gerry (2011)

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Soundtracks

Prelude No.7 in E Flat (The Well Tempered Clavier - Book 2 BWV 876)
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
Arranged by Ward Swingle
Performed by The Swingle Singers
Courtesy of Universal International Music, B.V.
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Moving and inspiring

I saw this last night at the Portland premiere with Gus Van Sant and James Franco among others. This is a powerful work and, in my opinion, Gus Van Sant has taken a big step towards the mainstream in his artistic direction. To me, the person who is by no means a movie expert, it seems that this movie had a much faster, accessible pace than his other movies. There were no long-shots or minutes at a time without dialog, etc.

I've really never thought much of Sean Penn before, but, with this role, I expect him to sweep up the awards. Everyone was great in their parts, but he did such an excellent job in portraying the Harvey Milk that I have seen before in clips and documentaries. They did not make out Milk to be a choir-boy, which was one thing I was afraid was going to happen. This story seems long overdue in it's telling, but so completely relevant to today's news.

I expect, as the movie hits theaters, this will cause quite a stir, with both sides using it as fodder in their fight. I expect the ratings will reflect this as there are already people giving it 0's who obviously did not attend the premiere. I don't think it deserves a 10 either, but is much, much closer to that end. Looked at objectively, it is a sometimes tearful, sometimes funny movie that was put together masterfully