'Not all of this is over - you aren't home free yet'

The Guardian carried a review of the new Milk film last week. The next week or so is going to carry reviews on most TV shows, newspapers and magazines and there has already been loads. The film opens on Friday in the UK and looks pretty amazing. A view all the reviews I've seen share. This review was different, offering a perspective from a local SF resident talking about how life has changed. The comments about the film being 'edited by history' are really rather beautiful and the conclusion of B Ruby Rich's review is thought provoking and contains a raw edge that is lacking in so many other pieces by 'reviewers'. The final paragraph is worth repeating in full:

'With the recent election, Milk has transcended its own status as a film and become a political fact, a political act. A generation ahead of Barack Obama's victory, Harvey Milk had his own mantra: "You've got to give them hope." Van Sant's decision to mix documentary footage into his drama facilitates the audience's identification with its story as the stuff of history. Indeed, its most emotional scenes, for me, don't even concern Harvey Milk: they are instead the harsh dragnet footage of 1950s and 60s police busts of gay bars, shining spotlights on to the faces of clean-cut men rounded up by the "vice squad" simply for patronising a bar, thrown into a police van for having a drink, criminalised for seeking community. Look back, remember, don't forget, the footage seems to signal to its audience. Not all of this is over - you aren't home free yet.'

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