Miracle at St. Anna - Review

While the racism the soldiers experienced was a part of the tale, it did not need to be so prominent in this movie, that's Spike Lee for ya. It is unfortunate that there was a time of racism against African-Americans, but that time is over for the most part. The only reason it's still around is because people keep bringing it up! All of our ancestors had it hard at one time or another, that's history. People today had NOTHING to do with slavery and all of that, which goes for blacks and whites alike. Personally, I never even recognized skin color as a difference in persons until black people pointed it out and made it into such a defining characteristic. Also, I'm Jewish, and the Jewish have been persecuted by just about everyone in history, but I don't go around pointing my finger and holding grudges against Germans, or Egyptians, or Christians or Spanish, etc.

...and to MICHAEL and don, up there on Oct. 1st and 2nd, y'all are some hypocritical, racist people!!

...So what happened in the middle and ending of the movie???

....I fell asleep and would rather not have to watch the first 30 minutes again to find out what happens...

I thought this movie was great!! Michael comment is pure ignorance!! Yes, white people can appeciate this movie. I can appreciate this movie from a historical stand point. Yes, blacks, African American were not given rights!! However, there was more than enough white officers who did there best to make sure there soldiers were treated right!!
So, Michael when you pure you racist attitude don't base it on this movie!

Horrible Movie!

the plot was almost there but just didnt seem to go anywhere. the charecters were almost cartoonish and the historical details were very un realistic. the cinematography was bad, and the acting was horrific. i had been waiting for this movie for months and was disspapointed. Spike dropped the ball and waisted a real oppurtunity to make a good movie.

I went to see this movie expecting the contributions of black americans in WWII. Instead, I'm watching a movie about black soldiers struggling to deal with a white captain in charge of a all black platoon and of course he's a loudmouth incompatent redneck treating the black soldiers badly, So one of the black soldiers spits in the captains canteen. Now that's some real class. I found myself shaking my head thinking another Spike Lee movie about whites trying to keep the black man down. Not denying there was racism during WWII but come on, show the heroics of the black soldiers in WWII and how they contributed to ridding the world of tyranny. Instead it was once again a Spike Lee reverse discrimination movie and the whites are racist rednecks. I think I just saw my last Spike Lee movie.

Also, to the lady who mentioned that she didn't understand why it was being shown in limited areas. I'm experienced the same thing. I live in Atlanta. Downtown Atlanta at athat and there were only a few of the main theaters located IN the city that showed it. Its not a coincidence that people have experienced what you and I did. I have very close friends in NY, Boston, LA, Charlotte and Houston that all expressed concern about the amount of theaters showing the movie.. even in its opening weekend.

I'm not suprised by this critic's comment. Whatever issues Hollywood and its critics have with Spike always resonates in reviews. Its no secret that Spike has voiced his discontent with Hollywood, his banning of Oscars.. so I don't expect a great movie his name is on to be graded as if his name wasn't on it.

I'm unsure of the 'messiness' this critic is talking about. I'm unsure of why he had a hard time with connecting the opening scene to who the shooter was and the link to the war. I just don't get it. The movie was superb. Period.

I saw the movie two days and then saw this critic's review and cannot seem to correlate both things. The movie is not very good and it is tanking at the box office. I can never get it straight, either there were good all black units in World War II or they were just kept on menial duties. In the age of political correctness we seem to lose sight of all of this. In fact there were good black combat units though not many. We live in age in which we are on the verge of electing a black President and yet Spike and so many otheres who control what I suppose can be called black art want to keep running the past. I am an Irish Catholic, my family was treated badly when we came to the US. The KKK also targeted Catholics and during World War One, German Americans were lynched. Times were toughest for blacks but its hard for many to equate slavery to the modern days, young people have no clue and really, why should they. We learn from our history, we do not embrace it and live it. Spike Lee has made some great films but he does have a theme which is bad white people, good black people and thats getting harder for people to understand. If this is a racist country, why are millions of whites and other races voting for Obama? Racists can go into an election and vote racist and no one will know, but they have not. Lee's movie appeals to the PC crowd and those who lives are ruled by that, both black and white. Can one say that Lee seems to be obsessed with race? Would that make him a racist? Reality seems to be that we are really do want to get along and we really are going to elect a black President over a very admirable and experienced white Senator and war hero. Lee's movies will never sell well until he embraces the future that is unfolding rather than the no longer necessary world of PC and entitlement. The movie was not very good and Lee has acknowledged that, has changed his agent representation and is looking for something better. Make better movies Spike, the mea kulpa crowd do not fill the box office.

What is wrong with a movie making a simple point these days? All of you claim there is something missing and it was a terrible movie, are simply unsure of yourselves. Have any of you read the book? Stop expecting from the unexpected! Oh, and ChuckE. Oliver Stone would not and Could not tell this story the way Spike Lee has done..........

Wendy,

Yes, at the beginning of the movie we see the adult Angelo. He was the one drinking coffee in the piazza. He was the one that "miraculously" had the newspaper land on his table. The picture seems to have miracles as a theme. It was a miracle that Angelo escaped the massacre in Saint'Anna di Stazzema. (If you want to see a little write up, see http://www.thecielobook.com/sant.php) It was a miracle that Angelo got the radio to work; it was a miracle that he survived the battle in the village.

In the courtroom scene at the end of the movie, we hear the Prosecutor say that the statue had been returned to Florence. Angelo was successful in life and made tons of money as we discover at the end of the movie. He probably purchased the statue to give it back to Negron in the final scene of the movie. The statue was a symbolic bond between the two. It represented the strong bond forged by a perilous situation, a bond between himself and those with whom he experienced the greatest calamity in history. Such situations often engender a bond that can last forever, just ask anyone who served say in WW II.

Saw 'Miracle' last week...trailers looked great so was really looking forward to experiencing a good war movie with equally compelling societal history lessons imbedded. I unfortunately left dissapointed although my wife loved it. We've both vacationed in Italy so enjoyed the Tuscany scenes but in a nutshell, for a movie and director I was really pulling for when the curtain came up I left the theater feeling:

-- Great story. Wrong director. Appreciate Spike's courage in stepping outside of his comfort zone with 'Miracle' but really got the feeling that he was way outside of his element. Spike and Oliver Stone should've collaborated.

-- Patchy. Had a few beautiful and poingnant disjointed scenes and concepts that just didn't have cohesion, momentum, and flow to provide the collective impact you were looking for...must admit the Nazi prisoner scene set in LA. was deep...

-- Too long (like my post). Spike should've spent more time in the cutting room...tried to do too much here--deminished the overall value of the movie.

-- Weak character development/awkward dialogue at times. The movie's use of the same tired/'90s-style demonization of the light-skinned character was also dissapointing. Yep, Bishop was portrayed as a pig but just found it disconcerting to see the intra-racism on top of everything else...especially when we know that those relationships happened all the time in that war--blacks, whites, hispanics etc were known to have experienced some of the the local "culture" if you will...

-- Really wanted to like this movie--saw a few good things...knew what Spike was trying to portray & appreciated it for what it was but was like trying to complete the thoughts of your stuttering friend at times.....can't see an Oscar in its future no matter how you spin it or how "intelligent" you claim to be. BTW: Disliking this movie doesn't make you any more of a rascist than disliking "Philadelphia" would make you a homophobe--go see it...make up your own mind.

bexmoom,

The person shot in the post office was Rodolfo the partisan traitor who killed Peppi. Peppi was the partisan leader Butterfly who the Germans were after. Hector Negron recognized him years later.

bexmoom,

The person shot was Rodolfo the partisan traitor who killed the captured German soldier and tried to kill Hector Negron. Negron recognized him years later at the post office.

I really wish that I could say that there is no such thing as racism anymore. I really really really wish that I could. It's too bad people still think the way that they do, as is reflected in the comments on this page. I hope that one day we could all appreciate a movie for what it is and not have to call each other names or accuse one another of ignorance. I hope that eventually everyone will strive to know the truth about every situation and stop and think about the things they say before they say them and stop judging. I just wish people would stop judging.

bexmoom

The person shot in the Post Office was the partisan traitor Rudolfo. This is the guy who killed the captured German soldier and tried to kill Hector Negron.

This movie to me was Spike Lee's best yet. I loved it!! By the end of the movie, I was teary-eyed!! I definitely encourage anyone who hasn't seen it to go and see it!! It tells the plight of how some of our black soldiers were treated during this War. It also shows the courage of the four survivors. I think they were real heroes to the people of that small village they came across. You don't realize how long the movie is, until you left the theatre. This is how captivating it is. Tell all your friends and family, they won't be disappointed.

To brwnskngurl, I don't know if your question was ever answered, but the head ended up in Negrone's closest because if you remember at the end of the movie the little boy gave it to him after the Nazi's left after they killed everyone else in the village except for Negrone. As the American medics came, Negrone took it with him. I believe he kept it in his closet as a reminder of the war and his friends that he lost. As the little boy Angelo grew up, I think he was the guy they showed in Italy reading the paper after Negrone shot the man at the post office in the beginning. Somehow, Angelo, ended up with the head at the end.

bexmoom Says:

October 7th, 2008 at 17:21
I spent Sunday afternoon seeing this movie. Please tell me who got shot in the post office.

The man who got shot was the man who betrayed them at the village. Remember he went on top of the hill and saw the Nazi's coming and lied to everyone that there was no one coming. He also killed their prisoner by stabbing him in the neck, and he cut Negrone's neck. Remember how they concentrated on his eyes during the movie, well that's how Negrone was able to remember him.

I spent Sunday afternoon seeing this movie. Please tell me who got shot in the post office.

Outstanding! Thank you Spike Lee for following your passion and delivering an untold story in such a marvelous way.

Saw it last night. One of the best movies i've seen in awhile. Not only was I entertained but also moved by the efforts of the men of color during wwII. The way the Italians and the American came together was powerful and meaningful. Spike Lee has his own style and it always seems to work no matter what he does. 5 stars in my opinion.

I will be watching this movie tomorrow or possibly Tuesday. At first I didn't get why so many other sites gave this movie low scores, but just from reading these comments, I can see why now. This movie takes an African-American point of view. Being part of a minority (Mexican-American) I feel like I can relate. Not in the same sense as African-Americans, but all the same, being under fire of racism and inequality. I hope this movie is as good as these reviews say it is, and I will be back with a full review once I see it.

Good movie! All the reviews that i read before seeing it were not accurate. All those who said the scenes were not coherent were not paying attention.

Am Canadian and I saw one white man cry at the very end. Thata how emotional the movie was. Action was brilliant.

I have seen this movie today,simply great.!!I am from Italy,living in the States since 2003,and I have to tell you this is one of the best movies I have seen lately.I remember the stories my grandmother told me about the Nazi,partisans,fascists..the civil war that divided we Italians during the war and you can see all of this during the movie.You can "feel' also how black american soldiers during war world 2 were just "used" for the US propaganda and been under the command of not capable and ignorant racist commanders...This movie is a masterpiece and iam sure it will be a huge success abroad,Europe mostly,were people pay much more attention on the "real'story and carachters then here in the States.Iam sure the same people that gave bad review to this movie,is the same one the gave top stars to movies as Rocky or Rambo...
Mr.Spike this movie is a beauty,and you are a genious as ours Federico Fellini or Benigni..BRAVO!!

god i hate when " african americans" say whites are to ignorant to do things such as understand a movie, especially young ones who feel oppressed when things dont go there way. You act like everything right now that's considered cool isn't blacks being as ignorant as it gets. Making up words, acting like being dumb is all the rave, and throwing money where ever they can. ya i better brush up on my blackbuster history.

Justice said: "This is a movie written and made for the intelligent individual. Loved it!"

Oh how right you are!!! Bravo! This picture has many excellent things to say:

• It shows an Afro-American who "never even touched a dead one (Caucasian)" showing such touching concern for an orphaned boy (who represents pure innocence).

• It shows places in our own country where some people were considered as something less than human, something I might add was a central tenet of Nazi philosophy.

• It shows how people can become so stressed in such situations that the question, “What is the purpose of all this and of life in general?” which takes many forms, be it religious, social, or philosophical.

One can see the boy, Angelo, (which translates to Angel) as the linchpin in the plot. The child actor was superb. We see him first as a child who is living in his own world because of the horrible things that will come to the front later in the movie. Toward the end of the picture we see a worn-torn Angelo dream that his friend, Arturo, who has come to take him to his father’s home. Arturo tells Angelo that he must remember all of what he has seen as it was their time to be children - his giant soldier friend dead, the German soldier who saved and befriended Angelo also dead, the massacre of his parents and his short life with them is now but a horrible memory. Yet we see the nobility of the soldiers who did their best to protect with their lives the simple people of the town when these soldiers could have just left. It’s in times like these that clichés like Freedom, Liberty and so on take a back seat to humanity. It’s at times like these the best and the worst is brought out in people. This is what Angelo would remember. He would choose to use what he remembered to make positive contributions.

Yes, this is a movie written and made for the intelligent individual. Loved it too!