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Friday
26Sep2008

Movie Review - 'Miracle at St. Anna'

DateFriday, September 26, 2008 at 12:02AM
Miracle at St. Anna

Starring Derek Luke, Laz Alonzo, Omar Benson Miller, and Michael Ealy
Directed by Spike Lee
Rated R


miracleatstanna_galleryposter.jpg It’s hard not to keep holding out hope that the disconnected pieces in Spike Lee’s two-hour forty-minute Miracle at St. Anna will rush together cohesively in the final reel. Fingers crossed, you tell yourself, it will all be worth it.

There is worth here in Lee’s tribute to the contributions of African-American soldiers during World War II, but there’s almost zero momentum at any point because Lee has so many ways he could tell this story and never chooses just one.

Miracle at St. Anna is based on a novel by James McBride, and though certain events depicted did occur - like the unspeakable massacre at Sant'Anna di Stazzema that serves as the film’s climactic backdrop - it’s still a fictional story.

Strangely and perhaps even inappropriately, there is no epilogue listing the jarring statistics about the numbers of black soldiers who served and died during the war. They deserve their place in history and they also deserve better than this film.

Both Lee and St. Anna are incredibly well-intentioned. There are moments of strength, and as an introduction to the Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division, which served in Italy in 1944, the film is fine. However, there’s a strange mysticism involving one of the soldiers (Omar Benson Miller) who befriends an injured Italian boy. It’s a long-running plot device that should propel the story but is instead one of its many sandbags.

At nearly three hours long, the running time is an issue for St. Anna. If there was a sufficient reason for the length, it could be understood, but this is a two hour film masquerading as something more, as if an extra 40 minutes makes it more important. It only makes it take longer to get to the point, and it's not really a trip worth making.

The performances by Derek Luke and Miller are inconsistent, though both Laz Alonzo and Michael Ealy are memorable. But Lee just keeps piling things on, never fully developing them. Only in the broadest application does this all make sense: The beginning leads to the middle leads to the end. But the specifics - confusing enough on their own - are all the more befuddling once they’re finally put into some kind of perspective.

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AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment2 Comments |

Reader Comments (2)

Curses! I had really high hopes for this joint!

Friday, September 26, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterKevin

I certainly don't want to get into the argument about the veracity of the film or James McBride's excellent novel, but I would just like to note that my novel, "The Cielo: A Novel of Wartime Tuscany," also describes the massacre at Sant'Anna. I'm pleased that this horrific event is getting attention.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterPaul Salsini

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