Months before Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” opened to widespread critical acclaim, publicity (paid for and otherwise) was so intense that it was something of a surprise the film overcame the advance word and lived up to expectations despite the thought of it having been shoved down our throats constantly. This year, Focus Features are handling their another gay-themed awards hopeful “Milk,” directed by the otherworldly Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Penn, in a low key, respectful manner. In about a month’s time, the film will open, and so far, the amount of full-on media hype is startlingly low, whereas Oscar chatter is peaking as the advance word comes pouring in.

Besides those who were sold on seeing the film even before the magnificent trailer premiered to positive word, who exactly will end up seeing a gay-themed biopic directed by the more often than not non-commercially driven auteur like Van Sant? Absent from film festivals, few advance screenings, with only a select few regions in the United States participating in early press screenings, its clear that Focus Features are purposely avoiding creating too much hype; but what difference will their considerate approach truly make? From an artistic and integrity standpoint; all the difference in the world.

This thing could go one of two ways as a result. Either, viewers will find themselves curious about the film, anxious to see how the legendary Harvey Milk story is handled by a few omnipresent faces in Hollywood these days. By respecting Milk’s legacy, in the film and through advertising, Focus Features would be, from a moral standpoint, taking the higher ground by achieving a more respectful, tasteful promotion. After all, whenever a film about homosexuality, in whatever form, is talked about, it is met with two voices: those who oppose the gay way of life, and those who don’t.

In order to target the former, to make them feel more comfortable seeing the film perhaps, not putting pressure on already sensitive topics is most wise, even if it may not be beneficial from a financial standpoint. The way most films make money is through hype and manifestation of opinions. Good, bad, when people are talking, they’ll most likely end up watching or at least stir curiosity for those who aren’t certain about whether or not to see the film.

But I don’t think their marketing decision for “Milk” has anything to do with finances, which is strange considering the instability of the global economy at the moment threatening to derail everything within its wake. At the end of the day, the success of art cannot be calculated in monetary terms so much as it does in the scope of its reach, the lives it touches, the opinions it drives, and instead of creating a surge of media excitement at large, Focus Features are set to achieve a level of publicity purity. Introducing the world, generations old and new, to the undeniably majestic soul of gay rights activist Harvey Milk as portrayed by Sean Penn, without intrusion or overpowering, pure and simple; Milk.

Some “media elite” as I heard them being called somewhere yesterday attended the press screenings for “Milk” yesterday too and were quick to chime in with their advance word, mostly exhaustingly enthusiastic to positive, at least, echoing a tipster’s review posted at The Playlist a while back. And Rope of Silicon has a ‘gallon’ of new pics for the film too. I don’t think I’ve been this thirsty in a long, long time.

David Poland, armed with his iPhone, says, “For the first time in my memory, we have a major Oscar movie that actually is a gay agenda movie. But on the making, it is so much more. It is a brilliant, powerfully humane piece of work that reaches well beyond the issue of gay rights or any idea that this is a gay-only film.” Regarding Sean Penn’s Oscar hopes which many have been prediciting but who can possibly predict better than those who have seen it, “Sean Penn gives an Oscar lock performance of power and subtlety that ranks with the best of his career.”

Kris Tapley, not as enthusiastic as Poland on the film, he is just as excited about Sean Penn’s portrayal and like Poland, thinks Brolin is brilliant in the short amount of time he is on screen, “I was more impressed by Josh Brolin’s work than I expected, stepping into what could have been a flat villain role and really bringing some subtlety and layers. However brief the performance, I think it might be his best work to date.”

Jeff Wells would give it 8.5 if he were rating it out of 10, “I’ve been hearing iffy things about Milk for the last week or so, but I have to conclude that those who’ve been spreading the iffy stuff are by and large mean-spirited and overly demanding. Milk cares, holds back, pushes through and gets it done. It’s compassionate, exacting, precisely ordered and emotional in most of the right ways.”….”Emile Hirsch and James Franco give the stand-out supporting perfs.”

Alex Billington, “not only was [‘Milk’] cinematically wonderful, but also politically very powerful and important.”

The Playlist, who tried to play by the rules but seeing as you cant beat em, Rod joined em, good for him, “In fact tonally and aesthetically the film falls somewhere between ‘Goodwill’ and ‘Private Idaho.’ Yes, it’s certainly Gus Van Sant’s most classical and straight-forward work since the aforementioned Boston prodigy drama, but “Milk” is executed without sacrificing his signature stamp – there’s subtle and little flourishes of his creative filmmaking touches that we haven’t seen since his “Drugstore Cowboy,” and ‘Idaho’ days.”

Updates to Follow.