Miracle at St. Anna (2008)

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

Director:

Spike Lee

Writers:

James McBride (screenplay), James McBride (novel)

Stars:

Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso

2 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Derek Luke	...	2nd Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps
Michael Ealy	...	Sergeant Bishop Cummings
Laz Alonso	...	Corporal Hector Negron
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

Storyline

Christmas, 1983. A New York postal clerk, a Buffalo Soldier in Italy in World War II, shoots a stranger. In his apartment, police find a valuable Italian marble head, missing since the war. Flashbacks tell the story of four Black soldiers who cross Tuscany's Serchio River, dodging German and friendly fire. With a shell-shocked boy in tow, they reach the village of Colognora. Orders via radio tell them to capture a German soldier for questioning about a counteroffensive. In the village, a beautiful woman, partisans that include a traitor and a local legend, the boy, and the story of a recent massacre connect to the postal worker's anguish forty years later. And the miracle?

---

Plot Keywords:

partisan | behind enemy lines | african american | reference to muhammad ali | ghost | 

---

Taglines:

World War II Has Its Heroes And Its Miracles.

---

Genres:

Action | Drama | War

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Distributor's official website for private individuals Distributor's official website for professionnals

Country:

USA Italy

Language:

English German Italian

Release Date:

26 September 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Spike Lee WWII Project

Filming Locations:

Sant'Anna di Stazzema, Tuscany, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,477,996, 28 September 2008, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$7,916,887, 23 November 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, On My Own, Rai Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

160 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

---

Goofs

The revision of the Geneva Convention in regards to civilians (4th Geneva Convention) was not adopted until 1949, therefore when the German Colonel is telling the Captain to kill 10 Italians for every German lost and the Captain refers to that violating the Geneva Convention would not have taken place. However, the Hague Convention IV could have been considered in parts, since the 4th Geneva was adopted in parts from the Hague.

---

Quotes

Livingston: Safety is the greatest risk of all, because safety leaves no room for miracles and miracles are the only sure thing in life.

---

Connections

Referenced in The O'Reilly Factor: Episode dated 27 June 2008 (2008)

---

Soundtracks

Vandervoort In Ste-Mere-Eglise
From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack The Longest Day
Composed by Maurice Jarre
Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

User Reviews

A Human depiction of War, like you would see in Hemingway!

It is really sad that very few people enjoyed this movie. I've just watched it and was quite amazed. The first scene in the post office was just outstanding, it got me right away. The camera was quite different from what you see in the USA normally, perhaps RAI has something to do with it. But the greatest thing about the movie were the characters. Some might say they were overacting, I say they portrayed people at war. It reminded me of For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Hemingway. I know the book is set in the Spanish Civil War instead of the Italian WW2 campaign, but the tone was quite similar in some ways. They both deal with the partisan fight, prejudice, the dehumanizing face of war and even the incredible capacity some people have to resist the war impetus to transform us into monsters. Very passionate, very human, very good!