Spike Lee’s big screen adaptation of James McBride’s Miracle at St. Anna chronicles the story of four black American soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division who get trapped in a small Tuscan village on the Gothic Line during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The film deals with the Sant’Anna di Stazzema massacre, but is structured with a Titanic/Saving Private Ryan flashback plot device involving a priceless Italian artifact, which is discovered in a murderer’s closet. The sculpted head from Ponte Santa Trinita, valued at $5 million, is a clue to a mystery that began 39 years earlier, when the soldiers found themselves trapped behind enemy lines and separated from their unit after one of them risks his life to save an Italian boy.
Miracle at St. Anna stars Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Matteo Sciabordi, John Leguizamo, and Joseph Gordon Levitt. Judging from the trailer, Spike Lee might be heading for an Oscar nomination with this one. Tell me what you think in the comments below.
You can watch the trailer in High Definition on Yahoo. Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna will hit theaters on September 26th 2008.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I don’t see any white people. Must be racist.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
that ending gave me chills. “I’m the only one left who knows.”
Looks very good. I look forward to seeing it.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
@ J.D.
come on let’s keep the racial remarks out of this and keep it a film related discussion.
with that said, the trailer was pretty damn good and i agree with peter; this is so far looking oscar worthy.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
If I said this movie will suck, Spike calls me a racist. He is everything that is wrong with black people. BET? Why not WET? The one sided race card sucks. Spike Lee can go fuck himself.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
where are all the white people? i think he is racist for not showing more white people in his films…. what about all the white buffalo soldiers?
June 12th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
That is an excellent trailer. It was enough to get me interested
in the story, but didn’t tell me so much that I feel like I’ve seen
it already. Looks like we may get some strong performances.
June 12th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
I think its based on some what of a true story. So it cant be racist. Plus the italy folks are white so are the Nazi’s.
June 12th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
“why not WET?”
because every single other channel basically is WET.
June 12th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I dont like Spike Lee , but I have to admit the trailer looks good and I did like “the Inside Man” so maybe this movie will be good too.I will wait for the reviews then make up my mind if I will go and see it or not.
June 12th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
So… I don’t understand… Is this a seuel to “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka”?
June 12th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Why are you guys asking where the white people are? They’re Italians in this trailer?
Also, this does look good!
June 12th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Looks really good. Spike Lee may hate Jews more than Mel Gibson, but I’m willing to set that aside, as stories of black soldiers in WWII really should be told.
June 12th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Interesting a few people bring up the race issue with Spike Lee i read this article a few days ago about Spike Lee complaining Clint Eastwood not having black people in his WW2 movies here a quote from Spike
Lee said: “There were many African-Americans who survived that war and who were upset at Clint for not having one [in the films]. That was his version: the negro soldier did not exist. I have a different version… It’s not like he could say he didn’t know. It was a conscious decision not to have any black people.”
Notice he didnt mention all the Japaneses actors that where in Clint’s Letters to Iwo Jima Spike always loves to play the race card seems like all he sees is black and white. And from what i remember there where no black people raising the American flag in the famous picture that Flags of Our Fathers was based on.
June 12th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Wow. Great trailer.
June 12th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I really like Spike’s work, but this looks a little uninspired. Of course, it’s hard to judge from a trailer… but I expected something a little more unique from him.
June 12th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Wait, so it’s not even really about the war? It’s some kind of police-thriller with a war subplot??
June 12th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
“Judging from the trailer, Spike Lee might be heading for an Oscar nomination with this one. Tell me what you think in the comments below.”
Good trailers don’t make good movies. And they don’t win oscars.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
FilmRespect,
It’s why he said, “Judging from the trailer, Spike Lee [might] be heading for an Oscar nomination with this one.”
Reading comprehension - 1
June 12th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Why do we have to bring up race. Its not that big of a deal. The movie looks very promising, don’t try to put a negative spin on things.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
looks like an interesting story.
looks like a bigger budget than Lee has worked with in the past.
I’m paying attention.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Kind of going along with “D” concerning the “race card”… where were all the black people in Saving Private Ryan?
I’m white and I think it’s easy for white people to overlook how few shows or films center around black people. Seriously. Name a recent or upcoming movie off the top of your head: Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Batman Begins, Juno, Cloverfield,anything by Judd Apatow, Jumper, Transformers, The Happening, and Cockpuncher.
White leads.
If there’s a black actor or (even rarer) a black actress, they’re generally in a supporting role unless it’s Denzel or Will Smith.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Joseph Gordon Levitt looks pretty white to me.
June 13th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Spike Lee’s politics aside, this looks like it could be a really good film, if the trailer is any indication.
I rather like the idea that the story is “it’s not even really about the war . . . It’s some kind of police-thriller with a war subplot”.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:43 am
This movies looks good, and I am not very interested in it.
June 13th, 2008 at 6:37 am
“Miracle at St. Anna” by James McBride.
Fiction.
“Flags of our Fathers” by James Bradley.
Military Biography.
And Spike Lee is telling a true tale how?
June 13th, 2008 at 7:53 am
This is why people as a human being will never evolve into something greater.
ALWAYS BRINGING UP FUCKING RACE. WHOS GIVES A SHIT!!!
Thats why we all fail and worry about a fucking color of skin. WOrry about a movie and its contents. Not about fucking color.
MY 2 CENTS :)
The movie does look really good!!!
June 13th, 2008 at 8:07 am
the problem is real6, people in a position of privilege and power often use “color blindness” as a way to blind society (and themselves) of their role in the oppression of minorities. every day minorities in america are looked upon with suspicion and disdain, yet if a minority ever complains about this they’re accused of being divisive. and that’s just another way of silencing minorities, of telling them to “shut their face.”
June 13th, 2008 at 10:30 am
chad Says:
“where are all the white people? i think he is racist for not showing more white people in his films…. what about all the white buffalo soldiers?”
And this is why we have racism. Chad, Do you know how ignorant and stupid you sound? Research “buffalo soldiers” and you will know why they do not have “white buffalo soldiers”.
I”m a black man and proud of it. We have “all black movies” because white america like to overlook acheivements by minorites and hype up their lies. Can anybody say Cristopher Colomubs”.
Jesus was not white. Even though black people wont’ admit it; but Jesus was not black either.
So us black people have to make our own movies to tell the truth.
This is like hearing a person complaining about being in first place.
Let it go. Grow up. You probably just mad that a movie with all black leads has a chance of winning an Oscar. I guess that would be a set back for yall white people.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:33 am
where are all the white people? i think he is racist for not showing more white people in his films…. what about all the white buffalo soldiers?
Research “Buffalo Soldiers” next time you want to speak your mind.
You will know why there were not any “white” buffalo soldiers.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Movie looks great. You’re all idiots for complaining about the race issue — during WWII, still under the throes of racial segregation, there were whole platoons consisting entirely of black soldiers.
And seriously, there’s white people all over the place. One movie where it isn’t white folk fighting the Nazis and everyone’s all, “MORE WHITE PEOPLE, SPIKES RACIST”. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?
And D;
Shut up. Your argument is ambiguous and childish, and sounds like something a kid in Junior High would write for a 2-page paper on ethics. And if you ARE in Junior High… I’m sorry.
June 13th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
@V
True, the race issue is nonsensical — we all need to move towards the colorblind society that MLK.Jr. wanted. Unfortunately, Spike Lee cannot focus on anything BUT race and that is what will keep us from evolving as a people. I think you might be a bit too into racial stereotypes yourself.
I posted the first comment on this string (way up top) as a joke. It’s dumb to complain about “no white people” in a movie just as it was dumb for Lee to complain about Eastwood’s film. We all just need to get over race and start acting like AMERICANS — unhyphenated Americans.
June 13th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
We all just need to get over race and start acting like AMERICANS — unhyphenated Americans.
in other words, all you minorities need to shut your faces and assimilate yourselves into white monoculture.
you know, “gee whiz, when you minorities go to the movies and see indiana jones doing battle with a bunch of dark-skinned primitives, why do you see indy as a white man and not just an american? it’s not all about race!”
if you think movies misrepresenting or underrepresenting white people have the same social ramifications as movies misrepresenting or underrrepresenting minorities, you’re living in a bubble.
June 14th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
@V- What truth? This entire tale is fictional. A work of fiction. If Spike Lee is at all concerned about telling a story about the black side of WWII, he should’ve done something about the 555th PIR, not a fictional novel about WWII.
June 14th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
To all the spike lee racism comments go f yourself. This movie looks brilliant. Spike lee is one of my favorite directors.
June 15th, 2008 at 2:40 am
quote:
” stories of black soldiers in WWII really should be told.”
I agree 100%.
It is most sad to see white Americans (like some of those posting above) using any excuse so they can to justify their hatred and bigotry.
Remember who were the slave owners and who were the slaves. You don’t have right to complain
June 15th, 2008 at 9:06 am
You’ve seen the trailer, but I’ve read the book, and it is not very good. The event depicted took place on August 12, 1944, when troops from the 16th SS Panzer Grenadier Division killed 560 people in the village of Sant’Anna di Stazzema. No US soldiers, let alone African-Americans, were involved. One villager said: “It’s a false reconstruction that does not take account of the historical reality,” adding “This sort of fiction should be banned, otherwise the damage to the memory and historical truth will be very serious.” While I don’t believe in banning anything, I do think Spike Lee needs to get his own glass house in order instead of throwing stones at Clint Eastwoood.
June 15th, 2008 at 9:13 am
I’m definitely intrigued by this trailer.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Looking forward to seeing the movie. My (deceased) father was a Buffalo Soldier from the 92nd Infantry and he was proud of it. My family willgo see the movie. We need to know our history.
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:08 am
Unfortunately, the movie has little to do with history. The massacre at St Anna took place in August 1944; No American troops were involved. The 92nd Division was routed by Fascist Italian and German forces in late December 1944. Some troops held out bravely, and those events seem to have inspired the book and film, but overall the 92nd Division’s combat performance was poor. It improved when it was reinforced by the Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I first saw this trailer over the weekend while attending another movie. It so intrigued me, I googled it to get more information. Mr. Lee is doing something that major studios often overlook. That is a fact. I come from a multiethnic family and my Russian Jewish family members are just as racist as those that persecuted them. Some of my Indian and Black family members dislike “white folks” and I have teased my “blue eyed devil” grandmother just as much as she has used the word “spook” one too many times. Bottom line, White America, get over yourself you don’t get all the marbles. Black America hatred is hatred no matter the color.