Today I went to the Castro Theatre to see Milk. I sat in the center of the 5th row, just about my favorite spot in most cinema's and watched, sans popcorn. Before the program, instead of previews, the Castro ran a loop of photos from San Francisco's Castro district in the '70s. Then, the lights went down and for the next few hours I was completely absorbed in Gus Van Sant's incredible film. It was one of those films that I actually didn't want to end, partially because it was so good that I just wanted to be in it longer. But partially because I knew how the story ends and, because the film's portrayal of everything was so real, I knew it would be painful to see. I found it difficult to rise from my seat even after the closing credits finished rolling.

The film left me feeling a bit weepy and very moved. I can still remember, in 1984, sitting next to my best friend Michael (who I since lost to HIV/AIDS) in almost that precise spot in the Castro Theatre watching "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk". I remember Michael grabbing my arm during the White Nights riot scene, pointing at the screen, and whispering "That's me! That's me! Breaking glass!" He had had no idea he was in that footage, and after the film ended, he pulled up his plaid, flannel sleeve to show me the scar on his arm from the broken glass doors of City Hall. That 1984 documentary won an oscar, and I remember it being a very moving and well-made doc that was full of history and filled me with affection for Harvey Milk without having ever known him (other than through Michael's regular reports during the years he lived in SF while I was still living in Boulder.)

But, I wasn't prepared for how amazing a job Van Sant and Sean Penn would do with this 2008 biopic. Sean Penn captured Milk with unbelievable accuracy and heart, and all the actors breathed very believable life into the people they portrayed (including Josh Brolin's spot-on performance as Dan White.) And the film also made clear a lot of things that need to be presented to mainstream America. I'm really hoping that this film will be seen by many more people than would ever watch "The Life and Times..." I went out of the theatre feeling melancholy, but also with a bit of (possibly over-optimistic) hope that now the word would really get out. I only wish that the film had been released before the election. Who knows, perhaps today's Prop 8 would have had results a little closer to those of the late '70s' Prop 6.