Just when I thought the closest gay film that could get an Oscar is “BrokeBack Mountain”, watch out for “Milk” due to be shown this November 2008. This film is all about a story based on the life of Harvey Bernard Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected in US. He was, according to Time magazine, “the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet.” I know it is still too early to predict Oscar bets but as I watched the film trailer, I have a hunch that this will be an immediate contender for this year Oscars. It has all the potential Oscar wining film, good cast, excellent technical aspects, relevant, unconventional and most of all… a biopic film. Here is the plot of the film (source: www.imdb.com)
“After moving to San Francisco, the middle-aged New Yorker, Harvey Milk, became a Gay Rights activist and city politician. On his third attempt, he was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1977, making him the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the USA. The following year, both he and the city’s mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by former city supervisor, Dan White, who blamed his former colleagues for denying White’s attempt to rescind his resignation from the board.”
Harvey Milk’s life has been an inspiration for many aspiring gay professionals and in fact many books have been published in honor of his life. “The times of Harvey Milk” won as the Best Documentary Feature in the 1985 Academy Awards, Emmys, Sundance Film Festival to name a few.
The casts of Milk are undeniably worthy of an Oscar too. Playing the role of Harvey Milk is Sean Penn. He is joined by actors like Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, James Franco, Diego Luna, Brandon Boyce, Kelvin Yu, Lucas Grabeel, Alison Pill, Victor Garber as Mayor George Moscon, and Denis O’Hare as State Senator John Briggs.
On a personal note, I want this film to really win because of the message it wants to tell. Whether they might be gay, lesbians, freaks as they say, all of us are part of this world and has the right to make a positive difference to society. All should have an equal treatment in all professions. It is a shame that this has happened in the 70s but we all still face the same issues. Do we ever learn? I don’t ask for too much… just a fair share in this vast entity called life.
If this will win, it will be the first ever gay themed film to win Best Picture in the history of the Oscars.
I leave you guys with the trailer of Milk:
(‘o’) – jupiterboi out…
