Monday 2 February 2009

Milk


Directed by Gus Van Sant. With Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch and Josh Brolin.

Using tape recordings of Harvey Milk and archival footages for atmosphere, Milk traces the life of Harvey Milk from the moment he turned 40 and left the closet that was his life in New York until his murder after setting up a photography shop in San Francisco's Castro district, attempting and failing a few times before finally winning a seat as district supervisor, and rallying the SF gays against legislation which aimed to bar gays from teaching in public schools.

If you're going to watch one Oscar film, this is it. Superb acting from Sean Penn, who seems to get better with age. After winning in 2003 for Mystic River, its about time he gets another one. Benjamin Button was OK, Frank Langella just doesn't have Nixon's jowls for it, and the others, well, I just don't care.

Go watch it. Now.

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