Miracle at St. Anna (2008)

Director:

Spike Lee

Writers (WGA):

James McBride (screenplay)
James McBride (novel)

Release Date:

26 September 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller | War

Tagline:

World War II has its heroes and its miracles.

Plot:

Set in 1944 Italy, the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII.

Plot Keywords:

Village | Italian | Partisan | Italy | Traitor

Awards:

9 nominations

Cast

Derek Luke	...	2nd Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps
Michael Ealy	...	Sergeant Bishop Cummings
Laz Alonso	...	Corporal Hector Negron (Young / Old)
Omar Benson Miller	...	Private First Class Sam Train
Pierfrancesco Favino	...	Peppi 'The Great Butterfly' Grotta
Valentina Cervi	...	Renata
Matteo Sciabordi	...	Angelo Torancelli (The Boy)
John Turturro	...	Detective Antonio 'Tony' Ricci
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Tim Boyle
John Leguizamo	...	Enrico
Kerry Washington	...	Zana Wilder
D.B. Sweeney	...	Colonel Driscoll
Robert John Burke	...	General Ned Almond
Omari Hardwick	...	Platoon Commander Huggs
Omero Antonutti	...	Ludovico

Also Known As:

Miracolo a Sant'Anna (Italy)
Untitled Spike Lee WWII Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong war violence, language and some sexual content/nudity.

Runtime:

160 min

Country:

USA | Italy

Language:

English | German | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44568) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Singapore:M18 | Finland:K-15 | Canada:18A | Brazil:16 | Japan:R-15 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Gioviano, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

Company:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Trivia:

Wesley Snipes was originally cast in the film, but was forced to drop out due to pending tax-evasion charges.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: General Ned Almond's Colt 1911 is a post-war gun. The grip medallions are of postwar style.

Quotes:

Private First Class Sam Train: God don't like ugly...
Sergeant Bishop Cummings: Well, he don't seem to like pretty a whole helluva lot either.

Movie Connections:

References Inside Man (2006)

Soundtrack:

Faccetta Nera

Great idea, good acting, decent directing, and questionable editing

The biggest problem with St.Anna is the first scene. The modern day murder plot intertwines with the main plot but it just suspends itself and you the viewer gets thrown back into the WW2 era in a state of confusion. Why not just have the camera pan over some newspaper clippings about the murder? I hate watching a movie while suspending my curiosity about a major plot in a different setting/era. Flashbacks are fine but pretty much the entire movie is set in WW2 so the opening scene was unnecessary. The editing leaves a lot to be desired, most of the scenes feel very clumsy and the cutting from scene to scene feels almost a bit amateur at times.

The idea is excellent. At first I was even reminded a bit of Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima. Miracle at St.Anna shows a slightly different perspective of the war, from the African-American soldiers' side. This movie could have been so much better if the scenes were shot in a different way. Perhaps Spike could've gotten a better Art Director, this movie lacked subtlety and depth. I felt many of the plots and dialogue were jammed down our throats with overly obvious lines. Great acting from Michael Ealy manages to keep the film respectable though, and two big thumbs up to the child actor, Leonardo Borzonaca.