Anna" really does feel like an intimate epic. It's maddening, then, that so much of the picture, which stretches novelist James McBride's trim or-so-page novel out to 2 hours and 46 minutes, cancels out the good stuff. Half the time I wasn't sure what Lee was going for in terms of tone, or style, or focus. It was a tricky assignment to begin with, because McBride's novel, and his screenplay, is part socio-historical corrective, part magical-realist folklore, part wartime procedural.
But too much of "Miracle at St. Anna" feels like parts and pieces from other movies. The rhythm is lurching, uncertain. In the book, McBride whipped through the prologue, setting everything up in less than three pages. On-screen, Lee and company seem to take forever with it. The Tuscany part of the story follows four African-American soldiers who survive a brutal ambush waged by the Nazis, little thanks to the worst of their Anglo superiors who don't want any part of the Buffalo Soldiers.
Negron Laz Alonzo ; and lecherous, smooth-talking Sgt. Cummings Michael Ealy. When Train saves an orphan boy Matteo Sciabordi after the Germans shell an abandoned farmhouse, the men come into contact with the villagers of St. Anna, represented, in "dishy wartime romance" terms, by Renata Velentina Cervi. Lee casts a wide net, as McBride deals with the anti-Mussolini rebel known as "the Great Butterfly" played by Pierfrancesco Favino, in the film's most conventionally heroic role.
Much is made of the precious Italianate statuary found in the Harlem apartment of one the main characters, who settles an old score in the prologue. Another whitewash job, he mutters. Anna" is designed to set straight one part of a vast historical record. When you recall Lee's finest documentaries, notably "4 Little Girls" and "When the Levees Broke," you realize that the subjects themselves were only half the reason for the success.
Lee doesn't put all his elaborate, try-anything techniques on the shelf when he does a documentary, but he's more sparing and purposeful about his visual attack. And that's what "Miracle at St. Anna" desperately lacks: selectivity. The acting is in one key some egregiously overstated ; the battle scenes carry undeniable power, but composer Terence Blanchard hits all the crashing climaxes as if it's D-Day and he's hitting the beach with strings, with brass instruments right behind.
And no, I don't like it any better when John Williams goes for the throat that way. Running time: Storyline Edit. Christmas, In his apartment, police find a valuable Italian marble head, missing since the war. Flashbacks tell the story of four Black soldiers who cross Tuscany's Serchio River, dodging German and friendly fire. With a shell-shocked boy in tow, they reach the village of Colognora.
Orders via radio tell them to capture a German soldier for questioning about a counteroffensive. In the village, a beautiful woman, partisans that include a traitor and a local legend, the boy, and the story of a recent massacre connect to the postal worker's anguish forty years later. And the miracle? Did you know Edit. Trivia Samuel L. He assumes it is by Bartolomeo Ammannati, but the bridge is by Ammannati; the sculpture is by Pietro Francavilla.
Quotes Livingston : Safety is the greatest risk of all, because safety leaves no room for miracles and miracles are the only sure thing in life. Connections Features The Longest Day User reviews Review. Top review. From Another Perspective. Length is a factor for this film, and it's not the normal action driven war film.
The bad intentions were included as well, and though it doesn't grab you the entire time, it tells an interesting tale. Sadly, most people don't go to see a war film for this reasons, they all want Saving Private Ryan these days. But that's not what war is always about, and this film shows the other aspects.
The black soldiers are each equally representative of varying perspectives that these men had. With a lot of duality also represented, this film leaves a lot to think about if you watch it with the right eye. It seems most people I've talked to have a problem with length and action, but if you don't pay so much attention to that and just enjoy it, you'll find a nice film that takes a different approach.
FAQ 2. Is 'Miracle at St. Anna' based on a book? How closely does the movie follow the book? Details Edit. Release date September 26, United States. United States Italy. Distributor's official website for private individuals. English German Italian. Gioviano, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy.
Box office Edit. Technical specs Edit. Runtime 2 hours 40 minutes.
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