Doing the Thing Right

Hit-and-Miss Director Scores with Epic Saga
 by  Morgan P Salvo


You gotta hand it to Spike Lee. He’s willing to take risks. With Miracle at St Anna, the risk is in making a huge mainstream war movie with larger-than-life proportions while still holding on to his visionary/radical/art-house/civil rights themes. Does he pull it off? Well, for the most part, yes.

From the first scene of an ex-Buffalo soldier watching The Longest Day with John Wayne on TV, to a final scene of extremely questionable merit, this is the epic saga of redemption cloaked in a war story mystery. While working at the post office, Hector Negron (Laz Alonso) shoots a man he recognizes from his past, and the head of an extremely rare statue is found in his closet. His story is then told in flashback form, following the escapades of the Buffalo soldiers’ 92nd infantry division and their descent pretty much into hell. A big oafish soldier, Train (Omar Benson Miller), carries around (for good luck) the aforementioned statue head he found in some ruins. He befriends an injured, Italian peasant boy who literally won’t let him out of his sight or clutches. Seeking help, the regiment, under Staff Sergeant Stamps (Derek Luke), travels out of radio contact to an Italian village and holes up with an Italian family living there. The impending arrival of German troops adds tension to the transpired time. The plot here gets almost too big to handle but even when it meandered I liked it. The use of clips that could’ve easily hit the editing floor added believability, conveying the kind of idiotic small talk that might prevail when doom waits around every corner.
Every single scene in Spike’s movies is expertly crafted and Miracle establishes this without fail. The characters don’t really develop once established, but they take on a life of their own through superb acting. The story goes into the formulaic Hollywood stereotypes, but the presentation and the acting from every character never missed a beat—the bigoted soda-jerk, the serious staff sergeant, the gold-toothed ladies’ man, the bi-lingual level-headed radio operator, the gentle giant, the Italian partisans (one good, one a traitor), the sexy Italian babe who entices all, the patriarchal fascist grandfather. You get the picture; there’s a lot going on, but Lee’s insight and faith in his film technique brings it all together.
Lee’s fixation with Italian Americans and African Americans has always been tantamount in most of his movies but Miracle takes it to the hilt. The discrimination message which he hammers home in every one of his movies once again provides real food for thought.
The only real beef I had with this movie was the music and the ultra-corny ending scene. Terence Blanchard’s somber droning dramatic overtones swept through virtually every scene. It’s like Lee leaves the stereo on when he’s working and forgets to turn it off. The ending scene’s music was pumped up way too loud, adding so much overkill to sentiment that it was a major disappointment. Silence would’ve been way more powerful.
This movie works on many levels: it’s a bloodbath war movie to rival Saving Private Ryan, it’s a racial discrimination statement on the treatment of all black Buffalo soldier brigades, it’s a tragedy ala “Of Mice and Men”, and at times, due to the claustrophobic nature of being confined to one place, it worked like a stage play. Commendably, Lee always manages to take you out of the moment with certain shots---taking creative, artistic license, doing something almost surreal with camera angles and ideas. Miracle at St Anna contains a variety of hit-and-miss scenes, but due to its compelling performances, stunning visuals, messages intertwined with compassion and Spike’s visionary style, it proves that miracles can come true.

Miracle at St. Anna
Starring Derek Luke, Laz Alonso, Michael Ealy, Omar Benson Miller
Directed by Spike Lee
3 stars
Extra points for John Turturro’s cameo