Milk

"Milk" is the story of a death foretold; released in the wake of Proposition 8 referendum.

The movie tells the real-life story of Harvey Milk, the first openly homosexual man to be elected to public office as supervisor, in San Francisco. I have to admit, the movie has all the elements that one may expect from the "biographical" genre. However, this film is critical in the sense that it reminds us of all the events, and sacrifices that made Obama's inauguration possible. Obama's campaign transcended biography. But the only reason he could afford to ignore to talk about himself and/or his race, at the inauguration, was because of the struggles people like Milk went through in breaking the boundaries their sexual orientation or ethnicity imposed on them.

The other striking factor is that it was only in the 1970s, when people were struggling to keep their jobs because of their sexual orientation. So it was reassuring to know that in just a few decades we have come a long way. I realize, in terms of equality there is a lot of other issues and stereotypes we still have to tackle, but the movie gave me hope. I know, all this optimism is almost nauseating :).

Milk's character is played by the always brilliant Sean Penn, and he has completely transformed himself for this role. He played this character with both vulnerability and assertiveness. And, of course, James Franco's presence in the movie didn't really hurt :). The other remarkable part of the movie was the inclusion of archival footage from the 1970s, providing us a glimpse into the period we don't really hear or read about.