Milk, who was assassinated in San Francisco in 1978, has galvanised the gay movement across America. Yet, newspaper and television headlines from time to time show that prejudices against gays and lesbians occasionally takes a lethal turn in America.

Sean Penn who plays the title character under Gus Van Sant -- arguably the first openly gay director in Hollywood -- gives a magnetic performance. His work alone has made the film memorable, and given it quite a push at the box office, turning it into a modest hit ($15 million and climbing) in North America.

Van Sant, who directed the much praised Good Will Hunting, doesn't turn Harvey into a saint. He, thanks largely to writer Dustin Lance Black, offers us a complex personality. But what the film offers most is the persistent attempt by one man (Harvey Milk) to be himself.

The film has several good performances. Watch out for Josh Brolin playing the tense and conflicted former San Francisco city supervisor who sets himself up as God. There are many scenes in the film that are stirring but the most powerful of them is the actual shot -- and it comes at the end of the film -- showing thousands of people, gay and straight, in a candlelight march honouring the man who defied society and convention in the name of tolerance.

Also Read: Sean Penn gets best actor award for Milk

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