Spike Lee is back on a mission. He does his best work when he is tackling topics dear to his heart and the portrayal, or more accurately, the lack of portrayal of blacks in war films is something he feels needs to be addressed. In the very first scene of "Miracle at St. Anna", an elderly black man is watching the World War II epic, "The Longest Day". From his point of view, it is historically inaccurate because there are no black men in the film. One comment under his breath is all of the evidence we need to demonstrate this. Cut to a United States Post Office. A man steps up to the window and requests stamps from our disgruntled man. For his trouble he is silently and immediately gunned down in cold blood. Why? We're not sure. Flash back to World War II and the saga unfolds.
Spike focuses on the participation of black men in America's armed forces in World War II, specifically the all-black 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division stationed in Tuscany, Italy. The story is loosely inspired by the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre that took place in August of 1944. Scores of Italians were executed by the Waffen-SS in front of a church for failing to give information on Italian partisan activity in the areas surrounding the town. The script is based on a novel by James McBride, who also handles the screenplay.
After their unit falls under heavy fire they are further hampered by the ineptitude of a new battlefield commander who doesn't believe the reports he is getting from the front lines. Instead of directing artillery at the requested coordinates, he assumes the men are wrong - primarily because of the color of their skin - and mistakenly bombs his own men. Four of them escape the shelling and move into enemy territory. They are led by 2nd Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke). The other three men are Sergeant Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy), Corporal Hector Negron (Laz Alonso) and Private First Class Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller). While each character is a tad one-dimensional, this in no way takes away from their roles and each actor performs admirably. PFC Train steals most of the scenes with his big, loving persona. Early on, he happens upon a young Italian boy who has been wounded in a building collapse. From that point forward he ensures the safety of the boy, even standing up to his commanding officer in one memorable scene.
Watching "Miracle at St. Anna" one can't help but wonder if Spike views this as his epic action-war film, as Steven Spielberg had "Saving Private Ryan". Whether that was his intention or not, he has succeeded. "Miracle at St. Anna" achieves epic status even though it tries to do too much, weaving a lot of intricate story lines that intermittently pop up and disappear and reappear. Spike manages to walk this high wire without falling off, even once. While I hesitate to call this a masterpiece, there can be little doubt that this is Spike's finest moment to date and, come Oscar time, expect to see Spike's name on the list of nominated directors. There may be a nod for the film also. It won't take a miracle for Spike to walk away with a statue.
