Attempts to unravel why the man flipped out lead to the recovery of a rare fragment of italian statuary, and a story that stretches back to 1944, when the u. On 12 august 1944 the waffenss, with the help of the brigate nere, murdered about 560 local villagers and refugees, including more than a. Anna premiered at the 2008 toronto international film festival before it was released on september 26, 2008. Newhall under construction newhall under construction. Told in flashbacks over a 40year period, the film chronicles events in world war two italy that eventually culminate in a seemingly random killing in 1983 new york city. Who does hector negron shoot in the post office in miracle at st.
Army as part of the allblack 92nd buffalo soldier division stationed in tuscany, italy, during world war ii. Anna is part devastating world war ii movie, part political film exposing the notorious racism of much of white america during that time, and part fairy tale in which a child becomes one with his rescuers as his spirit transcends the evil around him. As a contribution and challenge to the world war ii genre, miracle at st. Untitled spike lee wwii project, diamond, miracolo a santanna. In case you miss that, theres also a sticker on the slipcover advertising the movies availability on that format. Born today most popular celebs most popular celebs celebrity news.
Through the rest of the film i was, by and large, kept guessing. Anna is based on james mcbrides novel of the same name. Spike lees miracle at st anna denounced by italian war veterans as insulting director spike lee is at the centre of controversy after italian war veterans claimed his new film, miracle at st. As is often the case, lee seems to relish biting off more than he can chew, and. Anna opens with a black postal worker shooting and killing a customer at his window. Anna, directed by acclaimed filmmaker spike lee the inside man. Mcbride also wrote the screenplay, which is probably the biggest mistake lee made. Army as part of the allblack 92nd buffalo soldier division stationed in tuscany, italy. The santanna di stazzema massacre was a nazi german war crime committed in the hill village of santanna di stazzema in tuscany, italy, in the course of an operation against the italian resistance movement during the italian campaign of world war ii. Army as part of the all black 92nd buffalo soldier division stationed in. Anna has one of the best battle scenes i can remember, on a par with saving private ryan but more tightly focused in a specific situation rather than encompassing a huge panorama. Although the racism at the heart of us society is spike lees career long focus, the. Anna, the humanity cant be forcefed or captured on a placard. Its only a miracle if it rises up out of the screen, as if by force of nature.
Anna stars derek luke, michael ealy, laz alonso, omar miller the r movie has a runtime of about 2 hr 40 min, and received a score of 37 out of 100. Winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comic con sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. Monica film center santa monica monica film center santa monica. Blast away at the stilted dialogue, underlined ironies, pandering sentiment and huge flaws in. Anna movie trailers, exclusive videos, interviews from the cast, movie clips and more at. The outspoken spike lee, who can often be his own worst enemy, has virtually invited critics to compare his problematic world war ii epic miracle at st.
Directed by spike lee from a screenplay written by james mcbride, the author of the acclaimed novel of the same name, the film chronicles the story of four african american soldiers who are members of the u. It is the story of four american negro soldiers, a band of partisans, and an italian boy who encounter a miraclethough perhaps the true miracle lies in themselves. Anna chronicles the story of four american soldiers who are members of the allblack 92nd buffalo soldier. From touchstone pictures comes the powerful and uplifting world war ii epic miracle at st.
Anna could have been better written and better edited, and someone should have raised a red flag on its weird, supernatural conclusion. Anna is housed in a wasteful cardboard slipcover that repeats everything underneath. Thats the way i like it being presented with an confusing mess that get unscrambled through the rest of the film. Armys allblack 92nd infantry division, the buffalo soldiers, that are trapped behind enemy lines after one of them. Spike lees dizzyingly ambitious epic chronicles the experience of four black infantrymen caught behind enemy lines in world war ii italy. Featuring some of the most kinetic, visceral battle scenes in recent memory, this antidote to the jingoistic flag wavers of yore wrestles with the complex moral choices faced by black soldiers who risked their lives for a country that regarded them as. Anna wants to do too many things at once to do any of them with much. Set primarily in italy during germanoccupied europe in world war ii, the book tells the story of four buffalo soldiers of the 92nd infantry division who seek refuge in a small tuscan village, where they form a bond with the residents. Anna brings out the feisty best and petulant worst in lee in one unwieldy package.
Anna, a clunky, poorly constructed drama designed to spotlight the littleremarked role of black american soldiers in world war ii. Anna is a far cry from one of spike lees masterpieces. Spike lee loses the battles and the war in miracle at st. In the scene in the prologue, it appears that hector is shooting an innocent. Spike lees miracle at st anna denounced by italian war. The viewer has most likely seen a war movie before but they probably have not seen one quite like this. The film then veers into an endless, murky subplot about the italian resistance from which it never recovers. Traversing class, race, and geography, miracle at st. Miracle makes a bid for epic status, but lee throws in more elements including murder mystery and supernatural fantasy than the. Im guessing he was aiming for an academy award, since the film does have fantastic scenery and an important subject matter, but unfortunately, none of the other components came together well at all. Its a slightly heavyhanded misstep in a film that runs confidently though unevenly over a mountain of material, stepping right more often than it steps wrong over its 160 minutes.
Anna film the story of four black american soldiers who are members of the u. Anna chronicles the story of four africanamerican soldiers who are members of the u. Anna an old man sits in his apartment watching a movie on his blackandwhite television set. The shortest version is that its a story about four africanamerican soldiers in italy in 1944, and what they found there. Anna sets out, in a most circuitous fashion, to solve. Finally, one additional entrant will be chosen at random to win a third copy of the hills season four on dvd. Stationed in tuscany, italy, four members of the u. The four soldiers find themselves standing in a river, with a nazi loudspeaker blasting the sultry voice of axis sally, who promises them sexy. Sure, spike lee wrongly and probably strategically went after clint eastwood for not depicting as many black soldiers at iwo jima in his two films, but that whole controversy led me to discover things i had not originally thought of about segregated units. Its an ambitious goal, and not entirely successful. Anna is above all a hymn to the brotherhood of man and the power to do good that lives in each of us. But the real life story is so fascinating that i was slightly disappointed that the film did not offer more despite bringing into it the st anna massacre. Spike lee explores fighting evil and living with it the.
They experience the tragedy and triumph of the war as they find themselves trapped behind enemy. Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the films opening 3day weekend box office friday to sunday, without going under, will also win a copy of the hills season four on dvd, as well as miracle at st. This is the first theatrical trailer for spike lees miracle at st. Miracle at st anna bluray the tank museum spike lee directs this world war two epic from a screenplay adapted by james mcbride from his own novel. If youre still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the films content. By jim castagnera special to the history place 92908. At a new york post office, an employee, hector negron, pulls out a german gun and shoots a customer at point blank range with no explanation.
Anna compares reasonably well to most hollywood efforts. Anna are not dissimilar to those uncovered in edward zwicks 1989 feature, glory, although theres an 80 year gap between the time periods reflected in the movies, and the earlier film is a more complete motion picture. Anna brings up a very interesting point about black soldiers during world war 2, primarily that they were actually there. A top quality film of the 92 division, from the political environment, complications and bigotry to the heroism displayed in the battle of sommocolonia not to mention the waste of war, to. Why hector has killed this man and how he came to possess the head of the statue of the primavera, which had adorned the santa trinita bridge in florence since the sixteenth century, is the mystery that miracle at st. The film is the longest day, the sprawling 1962 world. Anna is a war movie interwoven with a mystery film. Anna after a wwii veteran murders a man, we flash back to his days with the buffalo soldiers to learn why he became a murderer forty years later.