“Miracle at St. Anna”
Spike Lee, 2008
“Miracle at St. Anna” is narratively uneven and overlong. Its characters are painted in broad strokes, and the dialogue they utter lacks nuance. In Spike Lee's vision, all blacks are treated as enemies within America, even in the face of real threats from without during World War Two. He stages a completely random sequence in which our four protagonists hold a diner at gunpoint so that they can be served their milkshakes like the white patrons; this is no doubt Spike Lee's fantasy concerning how oppressed blacks really should have dealt with racism in the 1940s. The film has a rather inane message about war: it kills thousands of innocent people, regardless of race, age or gender. But amidst all of these weaknesses lies a wonderful narrative – the incredibly touching father-son relationship between a sick Italian boy and one of the soldiers.
Note: Sorry, this review is pretty terrible. I didn't put all that much effort into it because, one, it isn't all that great a movie, and two, I haven't seen enough Spike Lee movies to properly comment on this film in the context of his other work.
Ultimately, “Miracle at St. Anna” is a confounding experience. It's often stupid, unintentionally hilarious, and occasionally compelling. It seems like Spike Lee has a lot to say, but what, precisely, he's trying to tell us remains a mystery.
Rating: 4
First Viewed: 10/5/08, in 35 mm projection - IMDb
2 comments:
"It's often stupid, unintentionally hilarious, and occasionally compelling." There seems to be a trend, because that's exactly how I would describe Lee's movie Inside Man.
True. It's been a few years, but I liked "Inside Man" more than "St. Anna." I really want to delve into Spike Lee's earlier work, and also watch "25th Hour."
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