Lyn and I finished up the "Top Five" movies this afternoon by watching MILK and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. It was a rainy day, so sitting in a theatre was a great way to stay dry!
MILK was basically a biographical "social action" film. It was one of those movies that was destined to be made because of the significance of the issue of gay rights to contemporary culture. The film treated the circumstances that led to and constituted the political career of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person elected to a major political office in the U.S.
Since most of the events are based upon historical record (and presumably upon a tape-recorded autobiography by Milk himself), there is little that needs to be said about the story line. One can check Wikipedia to find out most of the details.
I felt like Sean Penn gave a very convincing portrayal of San Francisco City Supervisor Milk. I never really knew much about the man himself, outside the great scandal of his being one of the victims of a high-profile double murder at San Francisco's City Hall. He and San Francisco's mayor George Moscone were both gunned down by disgruntled Supervisor Dan White (played by Josh Brolin). It was a senseless death which resulted in Milk's becoming an icon of the gay movement in America.
While the movie would not have been my personal choice for best picture, I did find it to be very well produced and acted. Especially interesting was the inclusion of footage from actual news coverage of the events related to his career and death. It was good to see Tom Brokaw and Walter Cronkite in their younger years.
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