Epstein, who got his start at age 19 working for gay activist documentarian Peter Adair’s Mariposa Film Group, had been working on a short documentary about Milk and his work against Proposition 6, which would have banned gays and lesbians from teaching in public schools, when Milk was killed. Thus, he was already familiar with the world of both San Francisco politics and Milk’s circle of friends and supporters, which gives The Times of Harvey Milk the sense of having been made from the inside. By the time Epstein and his producer Richard Schmiechen were conducting interviews for the film, enough time had passed since Milk’s death that the interviewees could reflect on it as history without being so distant from it that the pain didn’t still register in their eyes. Although he conducted dozens of interviews in preparation for the film, Epstein only included eight carefully selected interviewees to appear on screen, each of whom offers a unique vantage point on Milk as a politician, as a gay activist, and as a human being. So, for example, from Anne Kronenberg, who worked as an aide in City Hall, we get a sense of what Milk was like as a dedicated professional, committed to his causes and ever so savvy in his understanding of his constituents. From Tom Ammiano, a schoolteacher who would have lost his job had Proposition 6 passed, we see in individual form how Milk’s activism touched lives. And from Jim Elliot, an auto mechanic and union leader who is perhaps the most unexpected interview subject, we are given insight into how Milk was viewed by those who would not normally ally themselves with a gay activist.

However, The Times of Harvey Milk is composed of more than just personal reminiscences. One of its great powers as a document of its times is its fluid, dexterous inclusion of archival footage that weaves a concise, but thorough portrait of San Francisco in the tumultuous 1970s and the emergence of an increasingly organized gay rights movement. Perhaps to make the film more accessible to conservative viewers (remember that the film was released in 1984, the year of Ronald Reagan’s re-election and just before the AIDS crisis became fully public), Epstein and his coeditor Deborah Hoffmann soften the edges of the city’s homosexual subculture, leaving out some of the more explicit moments that took place during various gay pride parades that signaled the movement’s increasing strength and made straight people so nervous. Yet, the film never feels dishonest in its depiction of that time and place and Harvey Milk’s role in it, which evolved over the decade from local business owner in the famed Castro District, to activist and aspiring local politician, to history-making trail-blazer who stayed true to his core beliefs until the very end (perhaps sensing how dangerous his particular form of history making was, Milk recorded a last will and testament to be read if he were assassinated, a significant portion of which we hear on the soundtrack).

The final third of The Times of Harvey Milk follows the events in the wake of his murder, including the arrest and trial of his killer, Dan White, a seemingly normal former fire fighter. Epstein declines to psychoanalyze White or speculate on his motives, allowing various news clips to sketch out the broad parameters of what was obviously a tormented psyche. Just as we heard much of Milk’s last will and testament, we hear a sizable portion of White’s audio-recorded confession. This confession was instrumental in convincing the jury that his actions were not premeditated, which resulted in his being convicting of manslaughter instead of first-degree murder. He served seven years in prison before being paroled, and the outrage of those who knew and loved Milk is palpable, especially since the film was completed just after he was released (White committed suicide a year later). Epstein treats White with a surprising level of fairness, especially given the fact that the film as a whole, if it has a fault, is perhaps a bit too hagiographic. This may be because all of the interviewees were professional associates of Milk’s, so we don’t hear from those who were personally closest to him (like his long-time partner Scott Smith, who was nevertheless instrumental in helping Epstein research and work on the film). The result is an historical documentary that does exactly what its title promises, but also more: In showing us the times of Harvey Milk, it reminds us that cultural battles are not easily won and that any sense of progress, however small, is worth celebrating.

Copyright ©2011 James Kendrick

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