Editorial Review:Amazon.com: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 shot both Mayor George Moscone and Milk, his defense lawyers convinced the jury that White's judgment was impaired by depression and junk food, resulting in a conviction for manslaughter instead of murder--a verdict that prompted riots. With care and conviction,
The Times of Harvey Milk captures not only Milk himself, but also the political and social landscape in which these events took place. The interviews--with friends, politicians, and journalists--are articulate and heartfelt, expressing the impact that Milk had upon this historical moment.
--Bret Fetzer
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Related Items:
see more
Related Items:
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
a pride-booster in a box.
After reading the biography of disco-superstar 'Sylvester' this summer I was intrigued about a mention of 'the mayor of castro street' and I went to a screening of 'The Times of Harvey Milk' here in London. The film, released here fully and lovingly restored (with a whole other disc of extras) is something everyone (gay or otherwise) should see. This Oscar-winning documentary pieces together like an aids quilt the inspiring and tragic story of Harvey Milk, who was a beacon of hope and a brave leader in the then fledgling fight for gay and lesbian equality. Its an incredible tale and one you will need a box of kleenex for, it's one that many of the younger 'friends of dorothy' should see as it will school you on the battles fought and now perhaps, sadly taken for granted. Incidently, if you get this handsome volume you will be in good company as no-doubt Mr. Sean Penn is studying all those 'harvey-isms' as he will be starring in the up-coming bio-pic directed by Gus Van-Sant. What else can i say about this film except that i'm very pround to own it and that its narrarated by Harvey Fierstein and is scored by a then un-known Mark Isham. It's one that you will no-doubt lend out to friend's regardless of their orientation because as you will see Harvey championed the right of every minority in a time when that was a very radical concept. p.s. a friend of mine saw this film when it was released and it moved him to tears (lots of them) and he came out of the closet.
Rating: -
*LOVE* A Man With PASSION! Milk was M-I-G-H-T-Y REAL!
Learning that a movie of Harvey Milk, starring Sean Penn, is set to release November 2008, I decided to revisit this film and add it to my collection. I vaguely remember seeing THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK documentary about five years ago when I was working on my senior thesis project on the history of the gay rights movement.
Seeing it again, I'm reminded of how much Milk did to change the landscape--or at least start the ball rolling here in California--about people's attitudes and beliefs about gay men and women. Elected to one of the seats on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, Milk became the second or third openly gay person elected to a political position in America, and the first in California. He was instrumental in helping to defeat the 1978 Proposition 6 "Briggs Initiative" that would have made it mandatory to fire any gay teachers and anyone working in the public school system who supported gay rights.
The documentary premiered in 1984 and ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Told mostly through news footage and interviews with people who knew and worked with Harvey Milk, THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK paints a tender portrait of a man who was not just on the side of homosexuals, because he was gay himself, but on the side of people. Anyway, the documentary is very well presented and I see why it won the Oscar.
Digitally restored, inspirational and moving, THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK DVD should be part of every LGBT person's library, actually everyone's library, and is a great primer for those who want a brush up before the movie "Milk" opens in theaters. Sadly, many of the prejudices that Milk was fighting against in 1977 we're still fighting against today in 2008.
There are two DVDs that come in this collector's edition set. The first DVD has the documentary and the second DVD is loaded with extras:
==================== BONUS 2nd DVD EXTRAS =======================
1985 ACADEMY AWARDS--Kathleen Turner (V.I. Warshawski, Serial Mom (Collector's Edition))announces the nominees and winner, presenting the Oscar to producers Rob Epstein and Richard Schmiechen
PREMIERE AT CASTRO THEATER--Home movie of Vito Russo(The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies) inside the theater introducing the film, Epstein (producer) speaks afterward and presents the people in the film
2002 DIRECTOR'S GUILD LOS ANGELES-- 16-minutes-- Q&A with film maker/producer Rob Epstein and Tom Ammiano who was in the film
DAN WHITE UPDATE--3:51-minutes-- footage of White and verdict and information on White's sentence and suicide
ALTERNATE ENDING--2:40-minutes
ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY--3:15-minutes--Diane Feinstein speech made during the one year anniversary of the double murder
================= 25th ANNIVERSARY EXTRAS (all on DVD 2) =================
DAN WHITE CASE REVISTED--46:30-minutes--2003 panel with attorney Jim Hammer(former SF prosecutor/Fox News Legal Analyst), and Dan White's defense team Doug Schmidt and Steve Scherr discussing the crime, the verdict, and how the law and attitude about gays has changed since then
HARRY BRIT SPEECH--9:45-minutes--remembrance speech made by Britt who was Milk's successor
CHRIS MOSCONE SPEECH--6:56-minutes--Son of slain mayor George Moscone talks about the man his father was
STUART MILK SPEECH--5:45-minutes--Milk's nephew talks about his uncle
CANDLELIGHT MEMORIAL--7:18-minutes--home video of memorial with speakers Gina Moscone (daughter) and Tom Ammiano
STILL PHOTO GALLERY--photos from behind the scenes
THEATRICAL TRAILER
Rating: 
-
"You gotta give 'em hope!"
"The Times of Harvey Milk" is a compelling documentary about the last year of the San Francisco City supervisor's life. Milk's political activism- be it uniting union workers or starting the gay rights movement- takes center stage. "Times" shows his life with news footage, and through the words of those who knew him.
"Times" details Milk's political struggles. From running for public office or battling the Griggs Initiative (which would've banned gay teachers from public schools),Milk was an active civic figure. Milk managed to find unlikely allies in the Griggs struggle such as Democratic President Jimmy Carter and the Republican governor of California, Ronald Reagan. The battle over the Griggs Initiative is timely today, considering the "gay marriage" fight over Proposition 8.
"Times" is engaging,but it has some significant flaws. Milk's early life is glossed over. His personal life is put in the closet. His inner struggles- including those with religion- are absent. There is no mention of his troubling connections with Jonestown.
With the upcoming Harvey Milk biopic starring Sean Penn,"Times" is a slightly more insightful look into the current events of the day. It complements the biopic. Still,it's bland milk.
Rating: -
An Inspiration to Us All
I wanted to review a gay themed movie to commemorate the landmark legalization of same-sex marriages and the subsequent marriages of homosexual couples here in California. America is the land of progress and America just got a little more American.
Milk was the first openly gay city Supervisor in American history. He had been an activist for the famous Castro St. gay community. He was so well-known and well-respected, he was nickname The Mayor of Castro St. He was outspoken in his single-mindedness and his support for liberal causes.
Milk knew very well there was a distinct possibility of his being assassinated for being a beacon of the gay community. The bitter irony is that his murderer acted more out of selfish and vindictive motives than any particular objection to Milk's sexuality. Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were brutally murdered thirty years ago this November. The murderer, a conservative, clean-cut, straight white family man named Dan White was found guilty of two counts of manslaughter via the "twinkie defense" and served less than six years in jail for premeditated murder. White committed suicide less than two years after being released.
This is an excellent documentary. It is narrated by the first openly gay American actor, Harvey Fierstein. In only 90 minutes, it is a surprising thorough biography of Harvey Milk from childhood to activist to campaign to death. Unfortunately, no major politician was interviewed for the movie. News footage is used to present context throughout and friends and coworkers are interviewed. I would have appreciated more footage of Milk speaking about his past as a neighborhood activist and about his opinions on non-gay social & political issues. The 20th anniversary collector's edition comes with a commentary and a second disk of over three hours of extras.
Harvey Milk spoke out for the dignity and rights of a maligned and misunderstood minority. He championed the idea that gay Americans deserve a voice and deserve to be treated like the Americans they are. He was and is an inspriration to everyone, gay or straight.
Rating: -
Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad
"The Times of Harvey Milk" and "Common Threads" are excellent documentaries and well worth having in your collection but take my advice and buy them separately and don't waste money on "Where Are We?". The premise of "Where..." is the directors traveling through parts of the country that might not be so receptive to an openly gay couple. Well, from the interviews you can't even tell if the subjects know they are being interviewed by two gay men. At no time do the directors identify themselves on the audio as being Gay. I rented "Where..." from Netflix and feel that it isn't up to the standards of their other documentaries. Rent it if you have to but don't waste money on it.