Milk represents a "hybrid" film for Van Sant - a fusion of two phases of his career. In the late 1990s, Van Sant had an extended flirtation with mainstream movie making (most notably Good Will Hunting), a period that had many wondering aloud whether he had "sold out" or "cashed in." In response to this, he began a series of non-commercial, deeply personal motion pictures, culminating in last year's Paranoid Park. With Milk, Van Sant weds a straightforward linear narrative and high-profile cast with a subject matter that has genuine resonance for him. This is his most accessible film since 2000's Finding Forrester, but it remains to be seen whether the viewing public is ready to accept a non-campy, openly gay protagonist like Harvey Milk.

Those who have grown up within the gay subculture or who have spent any significant time in San Francisco probably know who Harvey Milk is. For almost everyone else, however, he is at best an historical footnote and more likely an unknown. As depicted in the movie, Milk (Sean Penn) and his lover, Scott Smith (James Franco), depart New York for Frisco in 1972. They move to Castro Street and spend their pooled savings to open a camera store. Although the neighborhood is fast becoming a gay hangout, many of the "holdover" businesses are hostile as are the police. The flamboyant Milk soon becomes an activist and attracts a small group of devoted followers, including Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), who would become one of Milk's closest confidants. In 1977, following several unsuccessful runs for office, Milk wins an election for Supervisor, becoming the first openly gay man on an already liberal board. Milk soon becomes embroiled in a struggle against the so-called Proposition 6 - a referendum designed to allow school boards to fire gay teachers - and shows Americans there is nothing pernicious about being a homoual. He wins the battle but is gunned down shortly thereafter at the age of 48. (Lest some consider this a spoiler even though it is a matter of the historical record, Van Sant shows a newsclip of Diane Feinstein announcing the assassination early in the film.)

While Milk's fight was specifically for gay rights, it's easy to see him as a civil rights champion in a broader sense, and this is the light in which Van Sant illuminates him. Even homophobes should be able to appreciate the importance of equal rights for any group, regardless of race, religion, or ual orientation. It is not unreasonable to surmise that, at some point in the future, current majorities could become minorities and, at that point, they will be grateful for the protections that Milk and others like him fought so long and hard for. As a result, the struggle depicted in this movie takes on the more universal aspect of one man warring against a better funded, intractable system.

According to Van Sant, the California vote with respect to Proposition 6 represented a cultural fork in the road for this country, and Milk places its audience at ground zero. Milk is struggling against a tide of evangelical homophobia whipped up by pop-star-turned-activist Anita Bryant. The template of where such intolerance can lead - 1930s Germany - gives too few people pause. Milk's tactic is simple: humanize those the evangelicals would demonize. He asserts that two out of three who know a homoual will not vote to have his/her rights stripped away.

Sean Penn is a chameleon of an actor who shows uncommon discipline when it comes to choosing his roles, although one would have to be naïve to assume that the potential of an Oscar nomination didn't enter his thinking when it came to accepting the part. Despite its low budget, Milk is clearly being positioned as an Oscar contender - if not for Best Picture then at least for Best Actor. Sometimes, so much prestige surrounding a performance can make it seem artificial or overhyped but, to his credit, Penn shrinks his ego and allows us to see only Harvey Milk. A more remarkable transformation, however, belongs to Josh Brolin, who portrays Milk's political opponent and fellow Supervisor, Dan White. Brolin is getting a lot of kudos for his caricatured portrayal of George W. Bush in W. , but his work here is more complete. White is a divided, tortured individual and Brolin shows us this more through expressions and mannerisms than by reciting Milk's dialogue. Emile Hirsch, who starred for Penn in Into the Wild, co-stars with him here, perhaps reflecting an off-screen mentor/protégé relationship.

Milk feels like an important picture, but not in a way that makes it tedious to watch. There's no pretentious sheen to the proceedings. In fact, the essential story is comprised of basic elements: the triumph of the underdog, David vs. Goliath, and the American tragedy of a strong voice silenced too soon. Knowing how the story ends merely emphasizes the importance of the steps taken to get to that point. Van Sant is cognizant of the film's political applicability to current events, but chose to release the film after Election Day rather than have it pigeonholed as propaganda whose entire purpose was to sway voters. For those who are not dissuaded by the homoual subject matter (and it would be unrealistic to pretend that the film's potential box office will not be depressed as a result of this), Milk represents a thought provoking, cathartic, and mostly true tale of politics and courage.
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搜狐娱乐，红袖添饭 

格斯·范·桑特此前也不是没拍过以现实人物为题材的电影，比如表现柯本最后时光的《最后的日子》，但那更多还是他个人迷离风格的体现。而在本片中，他的个人风格烙印几乎淡去，那些标志性的悠长镜头也难觅踪迹。
 
格斯·范·桑特热衷表现同性恋不假，但是除了《巴黎我爱你》中的那个小短片外，他几乎很少展现同情浪漫的一面。而本片开头却奉献了我在电影中所见过的最飞速的一见钟情——仅仅是在地铁站里匆匆擦身而过，观众甚至连人影都还没看清，米尔克就已经认定了要与他共度40岁生日的人——Scott。
影片最梦幻的部分全部集中在开篇，Milk与Scott的第一次亲昵，两人离开纽约开车奔赴旧金山，以及两人初到旧金山开了自己的小店后，旁若无人地在路边一坐一蹲的接吻……这些段落依稀还能感觉到格斯·范·桑特的风格，斑驳晃动的画面，诗意的镜头，还有欢快的音乐，流露出他惯有的抒情气质。
 
当然，这部电影不是爱情片。电影大约开始10分钟后，就几乎再难寻觅这样有点梦幻的段落。相反，整个电影充满了70年代纪实的气息，纪录片画面与仿旧的电影画面相互穿插融合，近乎难以区分。

难得的是，尽管影片中不时有游行、抗争的场面，也有不少慷慨激昂的陈词、辩论，但是整体感觉却并不愤怒。电影就是将那些活生生的现实摆在观众面前，让你自己去看，自己去思考。那些在我看来简直是荒诞不经、匪夷所思的观点竟然可以在大庭广众之下，借以GOD的名义，如此“正气昂扬”的宣讲，甚至赢得台下热烈支持的掌声，不能不令人深思。即便今天看来，这样的场面依然极具现实意义，30年过去，从6号提案到8号提案，同性恋者的抗争由工作转变为婚姻，这究竟是时代的进步还是回到原点的原地踏步？
 
影片中我最喜欢的还是几处抒情段落。
Milk看完歌剧《托斯卡》的清晨，给Scott打电话，两人简单的对话充满了不足为外人道的深情，Scott那句“我想让你知道，我为你骄傲”，令Milk激动难抑，那心酸又幸福的微笑以及泛红的双眼即便是黎明前的昏暗也无法遮掩。

将近结尾，米尔克被杀的场景，画面变为慢镜，中的米尔克转身面向窗外，那里悬挂的正是预示了他悲剧命运的歌剧《托斯卡》的巨幅海报，而后镜头叠画，再次中弹的米尔克扑到在地。整个画面也有着歌剧般的肃穆与震撼，格斯·范·桑特又一次充分展现了他美而伤的经典气质。

然后电影再次循环往复到影片开始不久Milk与Scott在床上的对话场景。有意思的是，这前后两段同样的场面，如果对比来看就会发现，导演用的并不是同一条拍摄胶片，二者对话虽相同，但演员动作、神态都有些许差异，而且后面这条的镜头明显更为靠近两人的脸部。言犹在耳，似曾相识，一语成谶的“我不知道能不能活到50岁”，却是在无奈地放大那份悲凉。
 
格斯·范·桑特的电影里永远不会缺少美少年，尽管只是担当配角，尽管掩盖在70年代老土的装扮中，影片里还是星罗棋布的埋伏着许多乍看上去也许没觉得很美的美少年XD不过这次不谈美少年，只说说两位主角。

西恩·潘其实已没什么好说的，这个家伙的表演永远不会令人失望，而且常常超出预期。已往我是很喜欢他皱紧眉头，苦大仇深的男人样，不过这部电影里他完全改变了。脸上时常挂着那种柔情蜜意的笑容（对西恩·潘用这样的形容词在过往绝对是不可想象的啊），连那些阡陌纵横的皱纹都变得柔软起来，即便他在台上慷慨陈词时，举手投足之间也微微有点“娘”——这是一个活生生的男人，他的可爱与刚硬，他的聪明与狡猾，他的孤独与抗争，他的疲惫与坚持，一切都体现得淋漓尽致。一个长相根本不漂亮的男人却能深深吸引你的眼球，打动你的心，这就是超凡魅力的奇妙之处啊。

还有不能不提的James Franco。我绝对是很久以前就注意了这位大帅哥，只可惜总觉得他不是出现在不好不坏的电影里，就是扮演着不温不火的角色，总有种意犹未尽的感觉。在这部电影里他依旧很“温”，却是一种恰到好处的“温”——每当他出现在画面里，就会感觉这部充满了不公与抗争的电影变得柔和起来，对，他是一个非常舒服的存在，不乍眼又难以忽视，若隐若现地让人感受到一缕温情。
 
最后想说的可能更像是题外话。

《米尔克》不是一部典型的格斯·范·桑特风格的作品，但却又是一部格斯·范·桑特作品经典。历经一番番的远离与回归，借助多年独立制作的累积，格斯·范·桑特在再次转向主流电影后，又迈上一层新境界。

我从来不认为主流电影就是丧失个性、面目模糊的老好人，就如同我也从不认为独立制作就是个性鲜明、言之有物的新新人类。其实，在我看过的那些表现同性恋题材的“不佳”电影中，独立制作恐怕是占了多数。它们的通病概括起来大约是不安心于老老实实讲故事，急切地想表达自己所谓的“新意思”，过分纠结于同性恋者的愤怒、压抑、怪诞，从而放弃了与大多数人情感交流共融的可能，最终沦为一种自说自话，甚至是无病呻吟。

反之，这也可以解释我何以会欣赏《费城故事》的平和与自尊，《断背山》的含蓄与包容，以及本片的抗争而不愤怒，因为这些电影带来的感动和感触可能触及任何人的灵魂，因而也就具有了根植于人性、存活于人心的更深远的生命力。

作者：feeling

作者： 艾小柯