Rob Epstein's fascinating, absorbing, informative, affecting and ultimately devastating documentary covers a specific and important period in the life of an important man. Harvey Milk was 40 when he grew dissatisfied with his clean-cut Goldwater Republican lifestyle and, upon meeting a handsome young man named Scott Smith who became his lover, moved to San Francisco to open a camera store on Castro Street. His first taste of the local political scene was uniting his gay friends and neighbors to boycott Coors beer in all gay bars in San Francisco, resulting in its demise in the city altogether. Soon, Milk dubbed himself "the Mayor of Castro Street," and after three attempts to run for the city's Board of Supervisors, in 1977, Harvey Milk became the first openly gay man elected to public office. He campaigned for a gay-rights ordnance, but won the hearts and minds of his constituency by standing up for the important issues in the city, which included a city-wide ordnance to clean up your "doggy-do" while walking your dogs in the public parks. Milk was not loved by everyone however, and his life would soon find itself on a collision course with that of fellow city supervisor Dan White, an All-American family man whose jealousy and resentment of Milk seemingly undermined his mental health. In 1978, a year after being elected to public office, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were both assassinated by White in their City Hall offices (we hear White's confession tape and it is almost as chilling as the fact that the jury actually felt sympathy for a multiple murderer). The ensuing trial resulted in White being given a fairly light prison sentence before coming back to San Franciscco to hang himself. Rob Epstein's film, narrated by gay actor Harvey Fierstein, shows an intense understanding of the political climate of San Francisco and America in the 1960s and 70s and gives us a transfixing glimpse into the life of a historical political figure. Harvey Milk was quirky, charming, good with people and, we sense, a nice man. His turn to politics was seemingly based on the notion of changing the status quo and working to unite homosexuals with straights of all races, colors and creeds, to break down the barriers that homosexuals were faced with in his time (and somewhat still are today), and to work to fix problems facing all people - not just his own. We meet many members of Milk's inner circle, including lesbian campaign manager Anne Kronenberg, as well as a pretty conservative and thoughtful blue-collar labor union member who voted for and worked with Milk because he gained a greater understanding of the local political spectrum through Milk's involvement. Towards the end, we see documentary footage of the processional funeral march for Harvey Milk through the Castro District and rows upon rows of candle-bearing mourners somberly and seethingly pay their respects as far as the eye can see. It's an astonishing sight, and a testament to the profound effect this man had on the world around him. He will be missed.
NOTE: This film has a terrific companion piece in Gus Van Sant's "Milk" (2008), the Oscar-nominated biopic starring Sean Penn.
Robert Aldrich's creepy, macabre, fitfully funny and deeply disturbing tale has been described as a horror movie, a black comedy, and has gained the reputation of a cult classic; all be apt descriptors. Here is a film about a house where childhood resentments fester, where fears come true, and where vindictiveness reigns supreme. 1917: Baby Jane Hudson is a child performer of huge stature in Vaudeville, with an ego as monstrous as that of any adult star, as her sister Blanche waits in the wings, afraid to let herself shine too brightly. Flash-forward to 1935: Blanche has become a hugely successful movie actress and Jane has attempted to follow in her footsteps, but has gained a negative reputation for being a no-talent alcoholic. Then, a tragic car "accident" paralyzes Blanche on the Hudson property. Years later, "Baby" Jane (Bette Davis) is at the beckon call of her sister (Joan Crawford), who is wheelchair-bound and relies on her kindly black maid Elvira (Maidie Norman). Meanwhile, the house seeths with the sick and twisted energy of "Baby" Jane, who dreams of delusions of a comeback, aided and abetted by a British pianist named Edwin (Victor Buono) whom she hires through the Personals to revive her act; to see and hear Davis perform Baby Jane's childhood hit "I've Written a Letter to Daddy" sends chills down the spine (it's a toss-up as to whether it's creepier as an old woman than as a little girl). The film, adapted by Lukas Heller from the novel by Henry Farrell, was directed by Robert Aldrich ("The Dirty Dozen," "The Longest Yard," "Kiss Me Deadly"). It all has an eerie quality, recalling such work as Billy Wilder's "Sunset Blvd." (1950). This is essentially about two old women who have all but completely severed connection with the outside world or, for that matter, reality. Crucial to the film's success are the performances by Davis and Crawford, who allegedly despised each other going back to the 30s, making this method acting to the hilt. Davis in particular, who garnered her 10th Oscar nomination here, has an absolute ball as a violent sociopath with delusions of grandeur and reminiscences of times forgot. Photographed in stark black-and-white, always in a garish, pale "clown" makeup, and still wearing the same little girl hairdo and creepy doll's clothes from her childhood act, Davis positively embodies Baby Jane Hudson, a monster who thinks she's in a prison of her own creation, but may in fact be more of a victim than even she realizes. Crawford almost matches her with, essentially, the "straight" role as Blanche, a seemingly helpless cripple of astonishing ingenuity and would-be strength. Together, they make this material eerily effective and unnerving, and ultimately some sort of weird masterpiece.
The Times of Harvey Milk
Unrated
The Terminator
R
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Unrated
