DVD Review: Miracle at St-Anna's

Spike Lee's WWII Story About Black Soldiers Drags On For Too Long

Mar 9, 2009

Despite a decent cast of relatively unknown actors and a beautiful setting, Spike Lee's tale of African American soldiers in Italy runs way too long on a short tale. 6/10

Spike Lee's latest film is told in a flashback form, following the 1980's shooting death of a post office customer buying stamps (Sergio Albelli), at the hands of an aging teller (Laz Alonso), who served as part of a mostly African-American detachment in World War II. The tale which ensues connects both men in some intricate way, leading a young reporter (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to find out their connection, thus unraveling a secret tale of survival in a small Italian town, circa 1944.

Hector Negron (Alonso) is part of a front line infantry group, looking to break through German lines, when he and his team members are pinned down by enemy fire and separated from their unit, and end up on the other side of the local river. Along with his three comrades, Sergeant Stamps (Derek Luke), Bishop (Michael Ealy) and the affable bulky Train (Omar Benson Miller), Negron and the others seek shelter until rescue comes to them, as they make their way towards a nearby Italian village, seeking shelter.

While on their way to the small community in question, Train comes across a young boy named Angelo (Matteo Sciabordi) who seems to always talk to his imaginary friend Arturo, possibly as a coping mechanism. All five of them make their way to the village, and do their best to radio communicate with their commander for rescue, while they stay out of sight from the Nazis, with the help of the townsfolk.

As their time runs out and the enemy draws near (and that they possibly have a traitor in their midst), these four men will truly need a miracle, if they are to survive and make it home alive...

This film isn't your daddy's brand of Spike Lee films. Unlike many urban tales of racial tension and differences (Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever), or high profile biopics (Malcolm X), this is Lee's first foray into a marginal war genre, something he manages fairly well, though he has a daunting task of adapting James McBride's screenplay (from McBride's own novel) into a fluid and succinct narrative, something which doesn't always add up on the silver screen.

Though the dynamic between all four colored soldiers is solid and interesting, we never really feel the inpending threat of a Nazi advance. The tale runs a tad too long, despite the plot element that we know the US forces are slow in getting to the village to rescue them. A good chunk of the subplot involving Italian freedom fighters, could have been edited for length, with none the wiser.

Laz Alonso is commanding as Hector Negron (both in the war flashbacks and in the present), and his is the character we wish to follow, as his tale leads us to the present day, and his actions in the city post office. He mostly acts as a moral sounding board for his fellow soldiers.

Other praise goes out to the young Matteo Sciabordi, whose Angelo makes for a memorable performance, as a young survivor of the massacre at St-Anna's. His interactions with his "chocolate saviours" make for some of the more poignant moments in the film.

Valkyrie`s Christian Berkel as Nazi Captain

As for the other cast members, though they perform well, their roles are stereotypical at best, and don't stand out as much.

(Trivia: Look for Christian Berkel as Nazi Captain Eichholz; Berkel played a similar role of an German officer with a conscience in the recent film Valkyrie )

Spike Lee and director of photography Matthew Libatique (who worked with Lee on Inside Man) take full advantage of the beauty that is the Italian landscape, which is a great canvas for this fictitious tale of soldiers fighting adversity on two fronts, from their own superiors as well as the Nazis.

And so Miracle at St. Anna's is a touching tale about establishing friendships in a time of war, befriending strangers in a time of need, and remembering what you fight for, in this long, but fair Spike Lee film. One hopes he will continue to mature as a director, and explore further facets of African American culture past and present.

Note: The regular widescreen DVD reviewed here had no extra features, though the Bluray version contains interviews and deleted scenes.

6 out of 10, for a good story (which didn't benefit from a good pair of editor's scissors)

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