The Times of Harvey Milk 1984
Studio: New Yorker Films Video Release Date: 06/08/2004 Run time: 88 minutes
A devastatingly skillful and emotionally compelling documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk charts the political rise and brutal slaying of the first openly gay city official in the United State, Harvey Milk. Ironically, the same election that brought Milk to the board of city supervisors of San Francisco also elected the man who killed him, a former police officer and fireman named Dan White. After White…
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Last updated: December 17, 2009, 10:20 am
The Times of Harvey Milk 1984 Customer reviews:
Average Rating: 5.0 Total Reviews: 46
(Michael Kerjman, 2009-12-03) A comprehensive historic evidence the USA/California/San Francisco of the late seventies of the twentieth century had been, is of a sure interest to human rights scholars and activists, especially.
(Alfred Johnson, 2009-06-19) Originally reviewed in 2009 on the 25th Anniversary of "The Times Of Harvey Milk" documentary. In the recent hoopla over the commercial film "Milk", about the political rise and assassination (along with the Mayor, George Moscone) of the first acknowledged openly gay politician, San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and the Oscar-worthy performance by actor Sean Penn this little film documentary has been overshadowed. This is unfortunate on two counts. First, this film won, on its own merits, an Oscar, as well, for the Best Documentary of 1984. Secondly, for those with a political perspective, especially those with a leftist perspective, this documentary is a more satisfying and instructive film about the limitations of electoral politics as a vehicle for the advancement of any oppressed sector of society. This documentary is driven by footage of the events that led up to Harvey Milk's political victory, his term of office, short as it was, the events surrounding the trial of his murderer, fellow Supervisor Dan White And the outrage, justifiably so, of the gay community and others, over the jury verdict in the case (manslaughter). As is the nature of such efforts there are the inevitable "talking heads" who give their take on Milk, the meaning of his political life, some personal observations and comments by those who were influenced by, or worked politically with, Milk. Two of the commentators stick out. One, a lesbian professor from San Francisco State (I think) gives an overview of what the Milk campaign meant for the gay community and the struggle for political power in one city. The other, an old time local labor leader (important in a big labor town, at least at that time), who, seemingly kicking and screaming, came to admire Harvey Milk. One should pay careful attention to his comments even a quarter of a century later as, despite some real gains made by the gay and lesbian rights movement, there is nevertheless still a "culture gap" that he expressed very well about his attitude toward gays before working with Milk and that is not uncommon, if politically incorrect, in many neighborhoods today. Twenty five years after the release of this film how does the legacy of Harvey Milk's work stand up? I don't mean the limitations of the parliamentary (and legal) road to social reform. I have also dealt with the question in other contexts around the women's liberation struggle, the black liberation struggle and other questions of strategic importance to the struggle for a more just society. Rather I want to finish here with a little comment about Harvey Milk, the gay man. From this documentary it is clear that he was very political, very committed to the struggle for gays rights, not afraid, as in the case of Proposition 6 (the 1978 effects by some right-wingers to exclude homosexuals from the public teaching profession), to tackle the yahoos and had a certain charisma. In short, all the attributes of any politico (at least a potentially successful one). But that is neither here nor there. What I think Milk's short political life ultimately means was caught in the speech included in the film that he made after that Proposition 6 defeat where he called on all gays and lesbians to "come out of the closet'' ( a seemingly quaint term now but very advanced then) and fight the yahoos wherever they are and wherever you are. That, my friends, despite my differences of political strategy with the late Harvey Milk is very good advise indeed.
(Stephen Pyle, 2009-05-29) There is a reason this documentary won "best documentary" of the year. If you care at all about gay rights, how far we've come, how far we still must go, the passion it takes to make something happen and one of the few people both capable and willing to do that, you must see this film.
(H. F. Corbin, 2009-04-28) This glorious account of Harvey Milk's time in San Francisco-- it is not an account of his life-- won the Oscar for best documentary in 1984 and, more importantly, won the hearts of all of us who saw it in the theatres. It holds up magnificently twenty-five years later. And while the fine movie "Milk" makes my eyes burn three or four times when I watch it (three times now) I found myself awash with tears the last 30 minutes of this hour and a half documentary for what happened, what might have been, where would the gay movement be now if Mr. White had not done his infamous deed, etc. Directed by Rob Epstein-- who provides a running commentary on the DVD-- "The Times of Harvey Milk" unfolds by means of both still photos and video footage as well as interviews with 8 people: Anne Kronenberg, who managed Harvey's last, successful campaign; the very emotional Tony Ammiano, who later was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors I believe; Henry Der; Tory Hartmann; Bill Krauss; Sally Gearheat-- isn't she the sort of person you want to hug immediately-- Jannine Yeomans, a TV reporter who covered much of Milk's campaigns; and Jim Elliot, a labor representative. The gravely-voiced Harvey Fierstein of "Torch Song Trilogy" narratives the film, and Mark Isham wrote the original music, consisting of a synthesizer, trumpet and oboe, that will blow you away. Each one of the eight talking heads relates his or her view and relationship with Milk. Almost to a person they weep when they describe his death and the following candlelight march and funeral service. (In a touching sequence, Mr. Epstein says that he regrets not including more time on Mayor Moscone's family in the film.) As poignant as any of the commentators is Elliot, who goes from seeing Milk as just another "fruit" to someone he admired and respected. Harvey would have been proud since one of his mantras was that we should all come out to everyone in order that people could see who we were. Epstein includes footage from the riot that occurred when Dan White literally got away with murder, something that Gus Van Sant does not cover in his film. This is a fine film to see after you have seen "Milk." Someone in the documentary comments that "Harvey lives in this film." I could not have said it better.
(Joseph P. Menta, Jr., 2009-03-17) "The Times of Harvey Milk" is a wonderful, important film that truly captures the explosion of a new social movement throughout the country in the 1970's and its epicenter in the San Francisco neighborhood called "The Castro". Of course, this cult 1984 documentary is mainly about the epicenter of the epicenter: activist and later City Supervisor Harvey Milk, the nation's first openly gay person elected to public office. If you've seen and were moved by the Gus Van Sant/Sean Penn film "Milk", you owe it to yourself to see that film's acknowledged primary source, "The Times of Harvey Milk". This documentary, winner of the 1984 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, is especially valuable now, as it allows us to see- more than thirty years later- the actual people, their statements, the issues, and side-issues that were just coming to the fore during that historic time. I notice that, at this time, Amazon is limited to offering pricey copies of "The Times of Harvey Milk" via second-hand sellers. If the various costs of these offerings are prohibitive to you, you might want to do what I did and just add the film to your Netflix queue and see it that way. I think you can even see the second disc of extra features that way, though so far I've only rented the first disc featuring the main feature. By the way, the film was restored not too long ago (the image and sound are really good), so it probably won't be long before an affordable, mass-market edition is again available. But thanks to Amazon for making the film available for purchase in at least some way during the current time.