Spring Break
'Miracle at St. Anna' depicts those overlooked in WWII
Marjorie Hamburger
Issue date: 10/9/08 Section: Verve
Spike Lee's new film, "Miracle at St. Anna," is a tale of forgotten soldiers in WWII. The men are African Americans who have long been neglected in stories of the war in everything from history books to war films.
Based on James McBride's novel, "Miracle at St. Anna" may have a fictional plot, but its background is a reality that has been buried too long.
The film begins in 1984 when an elderly black man named Hector Negron is watching John Wayne's WWII film, "The Longest Day." He mumbles to the screen, "Pilgrim, we fought for this country too." Later he is seen working at a post office. When a foreign man comes up to him asking for a 20-cent stamp, Negron pulls out a handgun and shoots him in cold blood. After being arrested, detectives search his Harlem apartment and find the head of an Italian statue that had been lost since WWII.
The rest of the movie is a flashback to Negron's experience in the 92nd Division called the Buffalo Soldiers. Excluding the white officers, this division was solely comprised of African Americans. The government referred to their group as an "experiment."
While in Tuscany, Italy in 1944, the 92nd Division's white officer cross fires on his own men after doubting the honesty of their position. Only four men survive. The men include Hector Negron (Laz Alonso), the Puerto Rican; Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller), the simplistic dreamer; Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke), the "do the right thing" persona; and Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy), the slickster who often clashes with Stamps' moral ways. These four men make it to a small Italian village, and have to stay put after realizing Germans surround them.
The four men meet several different characters along their journey. There is Angelo (Matteo Sciabordi), the 8-year-old Italian boy who clings to Train, whom he calls the "chocolate giant." Renata (Valentina Cervi) is the Italian heartthrob who steals the hearts of both Stamps and Cummings. And there is Peppi (Pierfrancesco Favino), the anti-Nazi group leader from the Italian village.
Based on James McBride's novel, "Miracle at St. Anna" may have a fictional plot, but its background is a reality that has been buried too long.
The film begins in 1984 when an elderly black man named Hector Negron is watching John Wayne's WWII film, "The Longest Day." He mumbles to the screen, "Pilgrim, we fought for this country too." Later he is seen working at a post office. When a foreign man comes up to him asking for a 20-cent stamp, Negron pulls out a handgun and shoots him in cold blood. After being arrested, detectives search his Harlem apartment and find the head of an Italian statue that had been lost since WWII.
The rest of the movie is a flashback to Negron's experience in the 92nd Division called the Buffalo Soldiers. Excluding the white officers, this division was solely comprised of African Americans. The government referred to their group as an "experiment."
While in Tuscany, Italy in 1944, the 92nd Division's white officer cross fires on his own men after doubting the honesty of their position. Only four men survive. The men include Hector Negron (Laz Alonso), the Puerto Rican; Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller), the simplistic dreamer; Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke), the "do the right thing" persona; and Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy), the slickster who often clashes with Stamps' moral ways. These four men make it to a small Italian village, and have to stay put after realizing Germans surround them.
The four men meet several different characters along their journey. There is Angelo (Matteo Sciabordi), the 8-year-old Italian boy who clings to Train, whom he calls the "chocolate giant." Renata (Valentina Cervi) is the Italian heartthrob who steals the hearts of both Stamps and Cummings. And there is Peppi (Pierfrancesco Favino), the anti-Nazi group leader from the Italian village.
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