Milk : Appreciation
iView Author: Raghu (Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A)
Email: r.s.godavarthi [At] gmail.com
‘ Appreciating Milk‘
There are some unique experiences that I have had in my movie-watching here in Huntsville, Alabama. There are some movies I’ve gone to see where I was among the very, very few people in the theatre (for any given show). Read “only”; or one in five (The other four usually would be my friends). This is when I realize how professionally run the theatres are. They don’t start the movie unless at least 1 person buys a ticket, and they run the movie even if there’s only one person in the theatre. On the other extreme, there are times you can go for a first day, first show – at exactly 1 minute past midnight on the day of release (It really is the first show!) and when you come out, you could easily think it was early evening. This last experience I had when I went to see The Dark Knight. The multiplex had 9 screens showing that fantastic movie and every one of them had a 1201 show, and every one was house-full. Coming out of the theatre at something around 3 am, I was shocked by the crowd. I had never seen so many people in the same place even during broad daylight (Huntsville is a quiet little university town, or so I thought). The former experience, I had today – when I went for Milk.
I rushed to the theatre for a 7 pm show, arriving at 7 12, and found myself to be the only one in the theatre. I was shocked. I told myself that the show was canceled. Or something similar had happened. Nope. Five minutes later, there is movement in the reel room and the movie starts. I tell myself this is impossible. This movie is being given its penultimate screening in Huntsville – the DVD comes out in 5 days, the hero won an Oscar, why the BEEP is the theatre empty? Another five minutes later, all this was wiped away. Dead Man Walking Sean Penn and the-guy-who-played-Harry-Osborn were sharing a bloody incredible screen moment and I was swept into the movie – mind, body and soul. For the next 2 hours, I was in San Francisco rooting for Harvey Milk. I had already been introduced to Gus van Sant through Good Will Hunting and Elephant and I already knew he was darn incredible. But this movie is at a different level. For those who don’t know, Elephant was about the Columbine High School Massacre, and the movie conveyed the story without a single trace of any sort of “color”. If the director wanted guns abolished (or promulgate their use) there was no hint of it. It was faithful reportage and incredibly powerful in terms of conveying the tragedy of the event.
Milk follows that same style but with a greater impact on you not simply because of the uncanny portrayal of Harvey Milk or of Dan White (Josh Brolin), not simply because of any narrative emphasis, but because of a combination of all these elements. A very precise permutation. Even for those who are not familiar with the actual life of Harvey Milk, the film is easy to follow, the principal characters are well-etched, and the film goes beyond being about homosexuals – a case in point is Harvey Milk opposing Proposition 6 (no spoilers!) – and by the end of the movie, I was as emotional as I was after watching V for Vendetta, which is to say that I felt outraged and would have killed Dan White if he weren’t already dead. Josh Brolin deserves kudos too for playing that part to perfection. I have spent a few hours reading various wikis and trying to see if the movie diverges from reality, and I see only some character economization. (Keener cinematic eyes might spot something more.) I find it unfortunate that Milk will probably never be released in theatres in India and it is here that the DVD market can make a killing. From the fictional Harvey (Dent) to the real Harvey (Milk), it is a wonderful real/reel saga.
Tags: Dead Man Walking, Good will hunting, Gus Van Sant, Milk, Oscar, Sean Penn, the dark knight, World Cinema
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Great report!! I appreciate your perspective on movie theatre protocol, and on the movie.
Your appreciation of Milk, a film I really love and admire, reminds me of a thought I’ve had, about Milk versus Rang De Basanti – Milk takes the situation to the next place, RDB doesn’t know how to do it, and I’d like India to have a story that shows you how it can be done, or was done, so I’m sorry if Milk won’t be seen there in theatres.
By which I mean – in both a big social injustice is identified (in RDB, the corruption leading to faulty airplanes and loss of life, in Milk, the life-destroying persecution of homosexuals), but in RDB we shift into the mode of a revenge drama, whereas in Milk we have the story of someone who knows how to build a movement for social change.
In Milk I particularly appreciated Harvey Milk’s repeated message that in fact the outcome wasn’t the point, rather taking the stand was the point.
Though I recognize that India at this moment might not be tolerant enough of the specific message, I also think the method of moving toward change actually isn’t philosophically new.
PFC Guys – Thanks for publishing my very first post. I promise a Flood of Biblical proportions
Virginia – Thanks! And I’m quite speechless by your comparison – you are absolutely bang-on about the parallel. I supposed Rakeysh Mehra had the perspective that his protagonists would carry the impact of the reel-within-reel roles into their reel roles. (The Bhagat Singh documentary characters) and in that sense the imagery in RDB of constantly switching between the two roles makes for superb screenplay. Similarly in Milk, Harvey rendering the narrative onto the tapes and the simultaneous documentation help bring perspective. The irony of course, is that the nation whose “Father” is Mahatma Gandhi – that nation has no more Gandhis or Milks left to nourish the system/
I wish my cinema’s were that efficient!
I normally end up storming out due to some idiot (the projectionist) ruining my cinema experience!
Sean Penn was just something else in this film.
He actually ‘was’ Harvey Milk!
It sounds as if u missed the begining of the film?
They actually reveal the climax in the 1st few mins.
But, it doesn’t impact the great viewing pleasure.
No release in India?
Because of homosexuality??
Steve – I didn’t miss anything.. I saw the announcement at the beginning.. but it was different at the end, watching the story build up was like a surge wave rising.. you are right, knowing the end before hand does not disappoint.
As for releasing in India, I am guessing that will be the fate. Although there may be a special screening for a film fest or two.
Virginia…Hmmm?
Yeah, I see ur point.
But I guess the emphasis in RDB was to ‘awaken’ a nation of sleepy youths by going through drastic measures.
In ‘Milk’, the respectful candle march is given the respect it deserves, whereas when the police charge and ATTACK the public when they do the same in RDB.
Harvey Milk was a burning candle that gave a ray of hope, whereas the Basanti guys were the spark of anger, rage and frustration that sets a whole rainforest alight…
Harvey’s percepective was on bigger issues, whereas after a point it became personal for RDB’s characters.
Or maybe, just maybe, they were temporarily possesed by Bhagat Singh & co?
:-)
Ok, seriously though, I felt that ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ was the other side of the coin where india is concerned.
Not quite sure if i’m expressing my point clearly?
Maybe i’m just waffling on?! :-)
I love Milk. So much better than Slumdog. I was so angry when Milk was completely ignored in all the award shows.
Guys, Milk HAS been released in theaters here in Mumbai
@ s – The Oscars really showed their class by giving Sean Penn the Best Actor award. I felt that the Slumdog bandwagon was created because of the general economic circumstance – in another year, Slumdog might have been a whimper in the dark – not to say that it is a “worthless” movie.
@Kenny – Sorry! I should’ve googled before assuming that Milk would not release in India. Given the subject, I was waiting to hear some kind of media “outrage” on it a la Deepa Mehta’s Fire -the silence is truly unnerving. Would like to see if the film has been “modified” so as not to “offend sensibilities”.
an awesome perspective
.. good going Rags !