The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)

In 1985, "The Times of Harvey Milk" won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. It's an exceptionally moving film about the political life and assassination of Harvey Milk, America's first openly gay politician. The film consists of lots of archival footage and interviews with people who knew and worked with Milk. Overall, it's a very, very good film--quite moving whether you are gay or straight and I can understand why it won the Oscar. However, one part of the film bothered me. While I know the film was about Harvey Milk, he was NOT the only one murdered that day by the evil Dan White. Before Milk was killed, Mayor Moscone was butchered as well--yet he is barely mentioned in the film. Now I am NOT saying the movie should have focused equally on Moscone (since it's called "The Times of Harvey Milk") but to focus again and again on JUST the murder of Milk seemed insensitive--the killing of both men was tragic. Still, it's well worth seeing--and quite sad.By the way, since this film came out in 1984, the story did not end with White only serving five years in jail and was then paroled!! This IS mentioned in the film. BUT, what isn't is that two years later, he killed himself (no great loss to the world).A better film would have focused on BOTH men...as today, few even remember that Moscone, too, was killed that day.

Times of Harvey Milk, The (1984) **** (out of 4) Terrific documentary about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to the San Francisco council. The documentary covers Milk's early days, his move to San Fran and his eventual attempts at running for an elected office. This story was eventually told by Gun Van Sant and Sean Penn in the Oscar-winning MILK and while I saw that feature before this one I must say that this documentary is a masterpiece and packs a lot of the drama that the feature was missing. The main feature's Oscar-winning performance is certainly something special but on the whole I think this documentary is about as flawless as you can get. What works so remarkably well is that director Rob Epstein manages to build up more drama than most feature films can do and what's even more amazing is how well structured the film is. This documentary really does feel as if you're watching an actual film because the director knows how to build up the story using new interviews with those who knew Milk, archival footage of Milk speaking and then we get information about what exactly was going on in San Francisco during this period. The documentary really brings Milk to life and I think even the most bitter and mean-spirited people probably would have to smile at some of the things Milk did. There's a terrific debate sequence about child molesters and the way Milk handles this was just remarkable to watch. The documentary also does a fantastic job building up Dan White, the fireman turned politician who would eventually assassinate Milk and the Mayor. THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK won the Best Documentary Oscar and it certainly deserved it. Not many people know the story of Harvey Milk but if they do want to hear it then there's no question this is the place to start. Even those who don't care about the story should check this out just to see how a great documentary should be done.

In fact, I don't like documentary film. However, I must say I was impressed by his status after I watched this film. He was a politician and a gay. In my opinion, he is a courageous man. He did not care who he was. He still strove for gay rights and for his dream. He just wanted to do himself. His deeds were not for fame, not for money. He just wanted everyone could treat them as ordinary people. In that times, you would be excluded when you did something different. In addition, people couldn't accept new concept easily. But he did not care what the mass thought about. It is hard to do that. If I were him, I would not do that, and I would take myself as an ordinary person. I think his spirit also stay in your mind. He is really a courageous man.

After watching this video in one of my classes, I think Harvey Milk was a remarkable man and I'm very admire his enthusiasm. He helped a lot of people who were afraid to speak out their opinions and thoughts, also he didn't care about that he was a gay supervisor and what others criticize him. I was touched by his spirit and courage, also I think no one can do as he did. A successful supervisor must have to catch people's mind and gain their trust, he also did it and donate himself to bring advantages to citizen. I think although finally he he had murdered, but it's no doubt that he is a remarkable man and I wish his spirit and contributions will last forever!