This movie took further the concept introduced by movies like Brokeback Mountain. While Brokeback concentrated only on Gay love, Milk took off where it left off, stating ‘yeah we know we gays are tortured, so what do we do about it?”
Everything in this film has been set in the right proportions. Nothing is out of place: no extra dialogues, no extra scenes. Though this film revolves around the life of the central character Harvey Milk, a real-life gay activist in the 70s in the state of California, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk), he is not larger than the theme of the film: a fight for gay civil rights.
Months ago, while I watched the Oscars, I was disappointed to learn that Brad Pitt lost the Best Actor Oscar to Sean Penn, who played Harvey Milk. Now that I have watched the movie, I seriously have my doubts about Sean Penn’s sexual orientation, in spite of knowing he is happily married with grown up kids. He was the perfect Harvey Milk brought to life again. His mannerisms, his smile, his persona, all screamed gay right from the first time you laid your eyes on him in this movie.
If you are a homophobe, maybe you will get rid of your phobia as you watch this brilliance on screen. Milk just makes you realize one thing that all religions preach from time to time: Who are we to judge, for we are all human!
Personally, I think this movie was a great piece of work and deals with really controversial and sensitive issues that we may have to face, some time down the line. I hope this movie is an eye-opener for you, just as it was for me.
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