His life, his legacy; our hope
I was one of the millions who probably heard of Harvey Milk at some point in my life, but never connected any dots to his life. Then one summer day, while housesitting, I found an old VHS tape of this documentary called "The Times of Harvey Milk". Not having anything better to do, I popped it in the VCR and sat back to watch. Two hours later, my life, perspectives, and outlooks were dramatically transformed by meeting Supervisor Harvey Milk. So it is with great excitement that this monumental film which pays tribute to a monumental time finally comes to DVD, and warrants my attention for my 200th review.
"The Times of Harvey Milk" is a transformative documentary both in style and information, created by visionary filmmakers Rob Epstein and Richard Schmiechen. The film not only covers the life of Milk, but the times which surrounded him that allows for a broader, more in-depth story. From the opening moments of the film, we learn of Harvey's untimely death, so as not to aggrandize...
The Fight Before the Storm
That Harvey Milk's election to the San Francisco city council made him the first openly gay elected official in the country certainly justifies this documentary look at his life and career. The fact that this political event coincides with the ascendancy of Anita Bryant, the Moral Majority, and California's controversial Proposition 6 (which sought to make it illegal to employ any gay person as a teacher in the state's public school systems) gives the film a nail-biting second act. But add the fact that Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by fellow council person Dan White, and you have a riveting truth is stranger than fiction psycho-political drama. The scenes and remembrances of the spontaneous candlelight march from the Castro to City Hall by thousands of citizens are moving and speak of a grief and loss that goes deeper than words. The film goes on to document the Dan White trial, the "Twinkie Defense", and the violent reaction to verdict. Unfortunately, you can't...
Unknown to me, till now...
As I browsed my local library DVD collection I stumbled upon this film and was curious, because I had never heard of Harvey Milk or the tragic story surrounding his political career.
For those of you who do not know, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the US (he was a Supervisor for San Francisco.) His time in office had many highlights; however, a fellow Supervisor assassinated him after Milk served only 11-months in office.
Yes, this is a documentary, and although the story is built with tragedy in mind one must remember the good that Milk built upon. His policies helped more then just the gay community, and it is disheartening to see that his story is not more prominently featured.
This was a nice DVD in general, and as documentaries go it is fairly good quality. This is a intriguing and well-done film that all should see, and may it make you a little more aware like it did me.
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