I'm going to have to insist that you go see Spike Lee's new film, "The Miracle at St. Anna" this weekend. Considering there are 4 fine black men in it, it shouldn't be a difficult decision. But that's actually only the icing on the cake. St. Anna is truly the best film Spike Lee has ever directed, and this is coming from a sister who has studied, dissected, celebrated and even hated on his entire body of work.
I had the honor of seeing a special L.A. screening of the film this Tuesday at an event sponsored by the NAACP and let me tell you, it was a momentous event. Mr. Spike Lee came out and spoke to us, which was a magical miracle in itself, and after the screening, the four fine brothers--Derek Luke, Laz Alonso, Michael Ealy and Omar Benson Miller sat and talked with the audience.
"Miracle at St. Anna" is the story of 4 black soldiers of the 92nd Infantry who were deployed to Italy to fight Hitler's army during World War II. It's about the patriotism of these "buffalo soldiers" who fought for their country despite being in a segregated army and still dealing with violent racism at home in America. The film unravels the mystery of why one of the men, a purple heart survivor of the war now living in NY, literally goes "postal" and shoots one of his customers to death at a NY Post Office.
The performances by these all of these actors are stellar, and the film is beautiful cinematically. Spike does a great job of weaving the story together in a suspenseful, lyrical fashion. You will be moved to tears, you will laugh your ass off, your heart will melt and it will definitely break. This is more than a war story, it's a love story, its' a story about the comraderie and cultural differences between Italians and Black Americans and...it's a story of betrayal.
Spike Lee shot this historically based film on location in Italy, and had difficulty getting financing for the project and eventually turned toward Italy for most of the financing, with Walt Disney Studios financing it domestically.
Spike felt the story, based on the book of the same name written by James McBride, was an important one to tell because he said, most films he grew up watching made it seem like blacks never fought in the World Wars or any wars for our country. "We've always fought for our country. We've always been patriots. The first man to die during the American Revolution was a black man, Crispus Attucks, most people don't know that, but it's documented."
Another unknown fact, the love that many Italians have for these black American men. I spoke with Derek Luke after the film and asked him how it felt for him emotionally to play such a role. He said he was just amazed at how appreciated and honored black men were in Italy.
"There would be monuments with great Italian heroes throughout the towns and right next to them would be a monument for one of the black soldiers," Luke said.
My only complaint about the film is a complaint I regularly have with Spike's work. He positions the women primarily as sexual entities, and the woman's story or contribution ito "the cause" is rarely examined. But in the full scheme of things that can be overlooked. That's my job as a director to represent for the ladies!
The Miracle of St. Anna opens in theaters this Friday, September 26th and features cameos by some Spike Lee favorites, John Turturro and John Leguizamo, plus Kerry Washington makes a pivotal appearance.
You know the routine--get out there and see it during the first weekend. This film is not one to be missed. The buzz is ridiculous and the talks of Oscar are well-deserved.
Morenike "Black Pearl" Evans
Filmmaker and Writer
