The Times of Harvey Milk 1984

I am an activist who is deeply inspired by the life of Harvey Milk. One of my best friends is a gay man who lived in the Castro during the 80s. His life was forever changed because of the decency, bravery, and vision of the amazing Harvey Milk. This film does great justice to Harvey in showing what a rare and beautiful world changer that he was, and the struggle that innocent people must go through at the hands of the closed minded and hateful. Anyone who watches this movie will be extremely moved, and it is only my hope that they will also be moved to action. The world needs more people like Harvey Milk, and only we can create a place where someone like him will be safe from the hatred and ignorance that often robs our world of its best peace makers.

This DVD chronicles the life and murder of Harvey MIlk, the first openly gay politician in San Fransisco. He and his ally, Mayor George Mosconi were brutally murdered in the court house by Dan White. This DVD shows actual footage of much of the news coverage at that time and also covers the trial and "twinkie defense" of Dan White. This is a "ten hankie" film in my estimation. Harvey Milk's profound courage and willingness to stand up for the rights of gays in a tumultuous time in our nation's history is compelling. All young gays and lesbians (and their loved ones) should see this film to see the price many have paid for coming out!

After reading the biography of disco-superstar 'Sylvester' this summer I was intrigued about a mention of 'the mayor of castro street' and I went to a screening of 'The Times of Harvey Milk' here in London. The film, released here fully and lovingly restored (with a whole other disc of extras) is something everyone (gay or otherwise) should see. This Oscar-winning documentary pieces together like an aids quilt the inspiring and tragic story of Harvey Milk, who was a beacon of hope and a brave leader in the then fledgling fight for gay and lesbian equality. Its an incredible tale and one you will need a box of kleenex for, it's one that many of the younger 'friends of dorothy' should see as it will school you on the battles fought and now perhaps, sadly taken for granted. Incidently, if you get this handsome volume you will be in good company as no-doubt Mr. Sean Penn is studying all those 'harvey-isms' as he will be starring in the up-coming bio-pic directed by Gus Van-Sant. What else can i say about this film except that i'm very pround to own it and that its narrarated by Harvey Fierstein and is scored by a then un-known Mark Isham. It's one that you will no-doubt lend out to friend's regardless of their orientation because as you will see Harvey championed the right of every minority in a time when that was a very radical concept. p.s. a friend of mine saw this film when it was released and it moved him to tears (lots of them) and he came out of the closet.

Learning that a movie of Harvey Milk, starring Sean Penn, is set to release November 2008, I decided to revisit this film and add it to my collection. I vaguely remember seeing THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK documentary about five years ago when I was working on my senior thesis project on the history of the gay rights movement.

Seeing it again, I'm reminded of how much Milk did to change the landscape--or at least start the ball rolling here in California--about people's attitudes and beliefs about gay men and women. Elected to one of the seats on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, Milk became the second or third openly gay person elected to a political position in America, and the first in California. He was instrumental in helping to defeat the 1978 Proposition 6 "Briggs Initiative" that would have made it mandatory to fire any gay teachers and anyone working in the public school system who supported gay rights.

The documentary premiered in 1984 and ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Told mostly through news footage and interviews with people who knew and worked with Harvey Milk, THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK paints a tender portrait of a man who was not just on the side of homosexuals, because he was gay himself, but on the side of people. Anyway, the documentary is very well presented and I see why it won the Oscar.

Digitally restored, inspirational and moving, THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK DVD should be part of every LGBT person's library, actually everyone's library, and is a great primer for those who want a brush up before the movie "Milk" opens in theaters. Sadly, many of the prejudices that Milk was fighting against in 1977 we're still fighting against today in 2008.

There are two DVDs that come in this collector's edition set. The first DVD has the documentary and the second DVD is loaded with extras:

==================== BONUS 2nd DVD EXTRAS =======================

1985 ACADEMY AWARDS--Kathleen Turner (V.I. Warshawski, Serial Mom (Collector's Edition))announces the nominees and winner, presenting the Oscar to producers Rob Epstein and Richard Schmiechen

PREMIERE AT CASTRO THEATER--Home movie of Vito Russo(The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies) inside the theater introducing the film, Epstein (producer) speaks afterward and presents the people in the film

2002 DIRECTOR'S GUILD LOS ANGELES-- 16-minutes-- Q&A with film maker/producer Rob Epstein and Tom Ammiano who was in the film

DAN WHITE UPDATE--3:51-minutes-- footage of White and verdict and information on White's sentence and suicide

ALTERNATE ENDING--2:40-minutes

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY--3:15-minutes--Diane Feinstein speech made during the one year anniversary of the double murder

================= 25th ANNIVERSARY EXTRAS (all on DVD 2) =================

DAN WHITE CASE REVISTED--46:30-minutes--2003 panel with attorney Jim Hammer(former SF prosecutor/Fox News Legal Analyst), and Dan White's defense team Doug Schmidt and Steve Scherr discussing the crime, the verdict, and how the law and attitude about gays has changed since then

HARRY BRIT SPEECH--9:45-minutes--remembrance speech made by Britt who was Milk's successor

CHRIS MOSCONE SPEECH--6:56-minutes--Son of slain mayor George Moscone talks about the man his father was

STUART MILK SPEECH--5:45-minutes--Milk's nephew talks about his uncle

CANDLELIGHT MEMORIAL--7:18-minutes--home video of memorial with speakers Gina Moscone (daughter) and Tom Ammiano

STILL PHOTO GALLERY--photos from behind the scenes

THEATRICAL TRAILER

"The Times of Harvey Milk" is a compelling documentary about the last year of the San Francisco City supervisor's life. Milk's political activism- be it uniting union workers or starting the gay rights movement- takes center stage. "Times" shows his life with news footage, and through the words of those who knew him.

"Times" details Milk's political struggles. From running for public office or battling the Griggs Initiative (which would've banned gay teachers from public schools),Milk was an active civic figure. Milk managed to find unlikely allies in the Griggs struggle such as Democratic President Jimmy Carter and the Republican governor of California, Ronald Reagan. The battle over the Griggs Initiative is timely today, considering the "gay marriage" fight over Proposition 8.

"Times" is engaging,but it has some significant flaws. Milk's early life is glossed over. His personal life is put in the closet. His inner struggles- including those with religion- are absent. There is no mention of his troubling connections with Jonestown.

With the upcoming Harvey Milk biopic starring Sean Penn,"Times" is a slightly more insightful look into the current events of the day. It complements the biopic. Still,it's bland milk.