Miracle at St. Anna

[Musashi]

Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcKPi5DyGWs

What did I expect?  An actiony piece wherein there was some divine intervention that not only allowed the protagonists to survive but, as it is a Spike Lee "Joint," display the merits of black soldiers in WWII - as they're admittedly largely under-represented.

What I got?  Wall-to-wall shit. 

I am sick and fucking tired of one dimensional white characters in 'black' movies.  Hey guess what Spike?  People are more complicated than that.  The obligatory cracker in this movie is the company commander, who is so overtly racist it becomes passé after his first scene.  It's a scene where he intentionally ignores his troops while they're under fire because he apparently doesn't trust the words of the monkey people.  I've been in the military, and I've met some racist mother fuckers.  But nobody is that stupid.  Not even of that generation.  I know movies are only a couple hours long, and that things must be caricatured in order to get the point across.  But this goes way over the line.  In this case it basically ruins any sense of gravitas in this movie - in the sense that if the main characters allow a dumbfuck (imagined or not) of that magnitude affect them, then they don't deserve your respect.

Combine that with the aimlessly meandering plot and the fact that the filming apparently caused a small controversy among Italians who didn't like their history being pasted over in an effort to give black people something to be proud of. 

  

It's just sucks.  Ice slops anyone?

Steal it.

[stray]

Most white people who are racist are very uncomplicated cliches though. 

Yes, some people are that stupid. Even people on some sides of my family who served in that war. Modern military is no comparison.


That isn't to defend this movie though. I saw a trailer for it once, and it looked too sentimental for my tastes.

[Musashi]

Dude.  He sends arty on his own guys  because he doesn't believe black people can tell the difference between arty on their heads or their enemies.  It's over the top.

[stray]

My grandpa (a tank driver in WW2) wouldn't even finish Saving Private Ryan because he hated the idea of a Jew (Adam Goldberg) in the forefront of battle (which is all ironic, I know.. considering that "treating Jews kindly" is an important element to that war). He also had a complete lack of imagination concerning my own mom (umm.. and by extension, me), while growing up. I won't get into it. [edit] It should be noted that he didn't really like Saving Private Ryan because it disturbed him as well, and wasn't all that keen on remembering the war, period. So in that respect, he had good qualities, and some nightmares to live with, so despite his flaws, I respected him greatly. I don't want to make it like he was a total prick.

That said though, I don't know the facts of this story. Maybe it didn't happen that way, maybe it did. I know that Spike Lee can be heavy-handed sometimes with racist portrayals, but on the other hand, I kind of don't mind it either. I guess it goes with the territory: I'm half white. I'll see both sides. And if you're someone like Lee, you grow up witnessing a bunch of ridiculous racist bullshit - and you'll amplify anything like it later on in life to correspond with those experiences. In Lee's case, he amplifies his bitterness on film. Yet, on the other hand, the bitterness is real and justified sometimes, and based in fact. There is crazy shit that happens, that is hard to believe sometimes.

Umm.. is that making sense? Eh, maybe not. Whatever. 

[Musashi]

I understand what Lee's trying to do completely.  I just think he's beaten the racist shtick a little to death.  But it's not just him.  It's a hundred movies written or directed by black and white alike.  I'm okay with glorifying the roles of blacks in WWII or I wouldn't have watched it - even if it is at the expense of history, as it seems to be in this case.  But is every plot device in every movie with black people boil down to 'whitey' keeping someone down?  Like I said, it's just getting old.  Watch the scene in question if you ever get the chance to see it.  It's in like the first fifteen or twenty minutes.  I'm pretty sure you'll see it's kind of weak.

[stray]

Hmm, I'll take you at your word, I guess. I like your sig.

[ghost]

This movie was a royal fuck up.  It could have been wonderful.  The soundtrack sucked, the overt racial crap sucked, and the semi-humor was terrible.

Spike Lee could fuck up a wet dream.

Edit:  I have to admit that I was very optimistic about this movie.  I knew it was Spike Lee and I knew what was coming at me, but this was truly putrid.  If you think you want to see it, don't.