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Activist and former Harvey Milk confidant Cleve Jones is pleased with Gus Van Sant’s film. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/MCT)
If you weren’t familiar with the name Harvey Milk prior to Gus Van Sant’s new film about his life, consider yourself caught up. The gay-rights activist is likely to be mentioned with increasing frequency over the next few months, if not in relation to California’s recent vote to reverse its gay marriage law, then in the same breath as the Oscars, as buzz for potential 2008 Academy Award nominations grows louder.
Though “Milk” encapsulates only the last eight years of its namesake’s life, it’s implied that those were the eight that mattered most.
The film begins with a flashback to 1970 New York City on the evening of Milk’s 40th birthday - the moment he resigns to, in his words, “make a change.” From there, it follows Milk (who is uncannily channeled by Sean Penn) as he relocates to San Francisco’s gay-friendly Eureka Valley/Castro neighborhood, opens a camera shop for kicks and, true to his words, starts making changes. What unfolds is a moving, well-edited retelling of how the first openly gay man won elective office in the United States and, within his first year in office, was literally shot down.
The film opened in limited release Nov. 26, on the eve of the 30th anniversary of Milk’s and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone’s double-assassinations by their colleague, Dan White.
For many gay-rights activists who supported and campaigned with him in the ‘70s, “Milk” triggers a bittersweet nostaglia. Cleve Jones, who as a youth was approached by Milk to campaign with him, explains that because the film was shot on location in the Castro district, longtime residents were very much involved; many locals who knew Milk were used as extras in re-creations of events that took place during his political career.
“Harvey Milk’s camera store was re-created in the actual location,” says Jones, who served as the film’s historical consultant, “and all night long (film security guards) would see people coming up - especially older people - who would peer in the window and begin to weep. For me, at that time, it was an incredibly romantic, exciting adventure. And all of us who were a part of it knew that this had never happened before.”
Jones is portrayed in the film by Emile Hirsch, who also starred in the Sean Penn-directed “Into the Wild” in 2007. Though Hirsch and Penn have an easy rapport on screen just as Jones and Milk did in real life, Penn’s interpretation of Milk’s boyish yet powerful personality stands alone.
“He just absolutely nails it,” Jones says of Penn’s performance. “(It) goes way beyond the superficial stuff - the mannerisms, the voice - he really inhabits that character, and it’s astonishing to watch. I’ve seen a lot of interesting things in my life, but watching Sean Penn become Harvey Milk was just one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen.”
For Jones, who is often tapped for reference on Milk-related projects, seeing a Milk biopic come to fruition was especially important.
“It’s been a very long process for me,” he says. “I first thought this would be a great film 30 years ago, after the assassinations.”
Eighteen years ago, Jones had met director Gus Van Sant via a similar film proposal, and the two remained in touch, waiting for the right script. “I’ve read maybe 40 or 50 scripts or outlines and various attempts to tell the story,” says Jones, “and (writer Dustin) Lance (Black)‘s first draft was head and shoulders above all of the others.”
Black had initially contacted Jones while researching his script and, even in the preliminary stages, impressed Jones with his compassion for Milk.
“Lance not only knew (of) Harvey, but understood the political story at the time,” Jones says. “He did incredible research. It was exhaustive. ... I was never worried about (the script) at all.”
The script was finished in February 2007, passed to Van Sant that March and, 18 months later, the film was completed.
Jones acknowledges that holding out for the right production team was frustrating, but now that the film is done, he says it was worth the wait.
“I think this may be the perfect time (to release this film) - the completion of this 30-year circle,” says Jones, “and I think Harvey would be really pleased with it.”
