Retro Review: Miracle at St. Anna
It’s somewhat fitting that Spike Lee decided to make this film on the heels of a public (and unfortunate) spat with Clint Eastwood over the lack of representation of African Americans in both of Eastwood’s World War II films, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima. Mr. Lee took issue with the omission, as he felt it reflected a much more widespread pattern in the industry of failing to acknowledge the role of African Americans in the shaping of this country. Mr. Eastwood had, at the time, defended himself (rather spiritedly) by invoking a credo of maintaining historical accuracy. Thankfully, good ol’ Stevo stepped in (his professional moniker is Steven Spielberg) before things could get really ugly and arranged some sort of summit/backchannel correspondence and the issue was squashed pretty quickly. Also, Stevo further proved he is in fact powered by the mighty arm of Zeus himself, imbued with the strength of 1000 men and the ability to calm the most curmudgeony of tempers by shooting laser beams from his bespectacled eyes (for the record, the exclusion was not part of any sort of agenda… but it’s also not nice to tell people they should shut their face). Back to the movie…
Miracle at St. Anna is adapted from the novel of the same name about a squad of Buffalo Soldiers who get caught in the mountains of Tuscany during the war. The film opens with a thoroughly gripping scene that evokes the exact sort of ‘what-is-going-on?’ intrigue that’s the stuff of classics, a rarity in the old-people-book-end approach to storytelling. This scene is immediately followed by a hilariously entertaining reporter-on-the-beat exchange between Joseph Gordon-Levitt (the reporter) and John Turturro (the detective telling him to get lost), a peculiar yet promising and entirely engaging surprise. I only wish the rest of the film was as strong as this initial setup.
Miracle does not share the same steady and measured gravity of Mr. Eastwood’s pacing. Instead it shifts from that snappy, amusing noir/detective tonality, to the whimsical and folksy rhythm that floats through the rest of the film. Both choices work, though the first feels more cemented than the latter. The film is also not without its moments of violence (there is a war going on, after all), and at times those moments seem to bump up a bit too roughly against the more heartfelt sections of the film. It’s all interesting, but it never quite hits the same inspired energy of the film’s opening.
What undeniably does come through, and the one thematic element that is shared with Mr. Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers, is the fraternal bond that forms in the midst of combat, an inherently loaded and complex dynamic when acknowledging that the characters in Lee’s film are there fighting arguably the worst racist figure in the history of the world, while serving in one of the most segregated armies. Theirs is a brotherhood rooted not in war, but in life. One weighted by both angry sorrow and sorrowful anger, and a deeply complicated ambivalence about serving their country. Spike handles this conflict like a pro, weaving seamlessly between moments of furious resignation and painful disappointment, while steering clear of the cheese (minus the ending. It’s a little weird).
The film boasts a typically moving performance from Derek Luke (love), as Staff Sgt. Aubrey Stamps. There is also the impossibly adorable Matteo Sciabordi, as Angelo, a young Italian boy who is injured during the first battle of the film and is soon believed to provide our main characters with some sort of mystical protection. Stamps’ optimism is countered by the cynically weary Sgt. Bishop Cummings, played by Michael Ealy (hotness), who breathes life into a role that may have easily turned cliché in the hands of a lesser actor.
But whatever flaws exist in the film (it’s certainly not perfect), it is inarguably a Spike Lee Joint. And all of the things that make us love Spike –the colorful dialogue, the humor, the history, the emotions, the fantasy, the realism—are all there to take in and consider. I don’t love it all, but I am glad to have seen it.
