MILK: the movie

[TheFlyingCamera]

I just got home from watching MILK, the biopic about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in the US to a major political office (city supervisor of San Francisco). It was a moving performance from all the actors. Sean Penn was terrific as Harvey Milk - I actually thought I was watching Harvey in many moments. The movie itself was shot largely on film (some video), in many cases in very grainy film to give the feel of a 1970's home made 8mm film. For the classic camera buffs, early in the movie there is an extended sequence where Harvey is wandering around the Castro district with a Nikon rangefinder. Classic camera hardware puts in appearances throughout the film, with lots of Pentax Spotmatics on display.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Every time I see the word "biopic," I think it should rhyme with "myopic."

 

[Steve Smith]

Every time I see the word "biopic," I think it should rhyme with "myopic."

I thought it did. (sorry, wrong thread).



Steve.

 

[Mike Wilde]

oh - the one to talk about

I first though of M.I.L.K. - which was a weird porno we rented, so my wife and I could deconstruct what was billed as a fusion of science fiction themed right along with hard core porn.

Medically Induced Love Konstructs - brain dead love slaves with implanted neural networks programmed for the love slave role, but that were becoming too evolved and self aware would be the best way to encapsulate the spin we gave it. It could have been a better sci-fi if it gave less play to the porn sequences, which are just to repetitive as a whole.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Well, Mike- this was far from that movie. I'm seriously weighing the idea of Sean Penn as an Oscar contender for his role as Harvey Milk. The whole film was just so well executed - nothing heavy-handed at any point, the story-telling and cinematography blended together seamlessly to produce a natural, thought-provoking, emotionally moving story. If you are at all unfamiliar with his story, I highly recommend going to see the movie to learn about another slice of American history that is all too often overlooked. An excellent read on the topic is Randy Shilts' biography of Harvey, "The Mayor Of Castro Street".

 

[Alex Hawley]

For the classic camera buffs, early in the movie there is an extended sequence where Harvey is wandering around the Castro district with a Nikon rangefinder. Classic camera hardware puts in appearances throughout the film, with lots of Pentax Spotmatics on display.

According to the Milk article on Wiki, he opened a camera shop shortly after moving to San Francisco. Also noted in the article that he had been a US Navy diver. That's certainly something that not everyone can do.