The Times of Harvey Milk

"The Times of Harvey Milk" is one of my two favorite documentaries of all time, along with "Roger & Me." Through interviews with his friends, acquaintances, and political allies, Harvey Milk is really brought to life and a wonderful and inspirational human being. It's an especially moving story for me, since I grew up in Berkeley, just across the Bay from San Francisco - but you can enjoy this movie regardless of where you're from. I've seen "The Times of Harvey Milk" about five times now, and I've cried every time. Just thinking of the opening shot of Diane Feinstein saying, "Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot - and killed" to a shocked crowd of reporters chokes me up.

This documentary richly deserved the Oscar awarded to it. One would have to be made of stone not to cry at least once. Poignant & powerful, it weaves through the story of this remarkable man with grace and dignity. Even if you are blase about the issue of gay rights, see this movie. I first saw it by renting the video, then purchased it. The events took place when I was a freshman in high school & can recall reading about the tragedy in civics class.

STUNNING. That's the only word to describe this film. If you haven't seen it, prepare to be amazed. Clear the room and remove any distractions because you won't want to miss a second of this remarkable recounting of the Harvey Milk story. Prepare to cry and scream, because you will do both.

"The Times of Harvey Milk" covers a bit of American history that almost NO Americans seem to know about, and this is a tragedy. Everyone should know about these events, and the astonishing, beautiful people who participated in them. Perhaps the most stunning moment to me comes when a red-haired straight woman, who became a frequent customer in Harvey Milk's camera & film-processing shop, recalls the night after Milk and Mayor Mosconi were killed. Her description, her face, and her tears make me cry every time I see it. And when Dan White was given a slap on the wrist for murdering Milk and Mayor George Mosconi... because the jurors thought he was under the influence of too many TWINKIES... the city erupted. The film of these riots is stunning, and you may find yourself wishing that you could be there with the rioters who STOOD UP to this historic injustice and demonstrated their rage.

People of all ages and all political persuasions will find this film a remarkable document of an important bit of American history. I believe it is essential viewing for all.

The life and aftermath in death of wonderfully wry and droll Harvey Milk, San Francisco's first openly gay city official who, along with Mayor George Moscone, was killed on a November day in 1978 by disgruntled ex-colleague Dan White (who ultimately received an unusually light sentence after his trial). From Milk's sneaky campaigning tricks to the infamous 'Twinkie Defense', this documentary is solid and involving. It has a creepy ambiance that is difficult to shake after it's over, yet there's a darkly amusing undercurrent throughout (which Milk himself might've appreciated!). The film says to take these events seriously, but to take them AS events. See the humor in the chaos. This was a deserved Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature; it is quite moving, funny, despairing--never clinical or cold. *** from ****

Epstein (and Friedman) make documentaries by assembling talking heads, news footage, and narration -- they make documentaries about events and phenomena, not about detailing lives as they happen. This is an event timepiece, and it hits a weak spot in me -- it's a good movie regardless, but it twists something that makes my heart ache. The movie itself might not warrant such a high rating, but what it depicts does evoke very strong emotions, specifically in the last half hour: you come out of the movie shattered and raging. It's a very lean hour and-a-half, and it manages to cram in as much of a sense of the time, at least in terms of the gay perspective, as possible. Epstein's movie is about the gay experience, but he's not a propagandist: he's more than willing to show that the Democratic Jimmy Carter didn't want to be photographed with Milk, that his sister offered to "cure" Milk of his homosexuality through religion; and he's open to showing that Ronald Reagan, much despised in the gay community, did not support California's Proposition 6, which would make it legal to fire existing teachers who were openly gay.

The film's aim is to make a martyr out of Milk -- but then, he is one, isn't he? He knew his own assassination was coming, or felt that it could; it's why he taped his own will assuming it might be heard if in fact he was assassinated (though he likely wouldn't have known it would be an angry former fellow city supervisor who would kill him). When the head of the city supervisors announces that the mayor and Milk have been killed, presumably by Dan White, distraught about not being re-selected as a city supervisor after resigning the position and then wanting it back, it's like an electric shock to the back of your neck, the crowd of news reporters shrieking in disbelief. The story is famous: White, who shoots Milk five times (once in the head), is found guilty only of voluntary manslaughter (and eventually released after just five and-a-half years), and his trial findings result in a street mob. That mob mentality grosses me out, but when citizens furious with the ruling start to firebomb police cars in the street, I couldn't help but feel for them and root them on; this kind of spit in the face to the gay community (and the memory of two dead, innocent men) deserves a gut reaction. There's a difference between mobs fueled by hate and mobs fueled by injustice. When someone says, "We are reacting with anger because we are ANGRY" you feel that anger. When we see thousands of people in the darkened street holdings candles over their heads, you might begin to weep. 9/10