Not a Miracle

- 2 Eberts

Miracle at St. Anna was a really disappointing movie. The story seemed to go off in twenty different directions. There were good Germans, Italians and Americans and bad Germans, Italians and Americans. There was a statue head (why?), a ghost, dancing and a massacre. What all this had to do with the 92nd 'Buffalo' Infantry Division I don't know. It certainly was no where in the league of Glory, which it aspired to be.
In fact a case could be made that Spike's direction of this movie was a disservice to the brave men who served in that division. This is certainly ironic in that it was Spike who said that Malcolm X needed to be directed by a black person when Norman Jewison had been slated to direct it. After it was made I agreed with Spike and Malcolm X became one of my favorite movies. But what happened to that director? Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X are two of the all time greats. But he hasn't made anything in that league in over fifteen years. Has he lost his passion, his desire? Maybe.
Roger didn't like this movie either. He said,"Spike Lee's "Miracle at St. Anna" contains scenes of brilliance, interrupted by scenes that meander. There is too much, too many characters, too many subplots. But there is so much here that is powerful that it should be seen no matter its imperfections. There are scenes that could have been lost to more decisive editing, but I found after a few days that my mind did the editing for me, and I was left with lasting impressions." Translation : if he cut out a lot of the stuff that he left in it could have been much better.
He finishes his review with, "The scenes I object to are not evidence of any special perception I have. They're the kind of scenes many studio chiefs from the dawn of film might have singled out, in the interest of making the film shorter and faster. But they're important to Lee, who must have defended them. And it's important to me that he did. When you see one of his films, you're seeing one of his films. And "Miracle at St. Anna" contains richness, anger, history, sentiment, fantasy, reality, violence and life. Maybe too much. Better than too little." Translation : I admire that fact that Spike left in many scenes that everyone was telling him were no good, because it shows he has integrity, even though everyone else was right.
There is no way Roger gives this movie 3 stars if it didn't have Spike Lee's name under the title. I know that Roger, like me, is praying for the old Spike Lee to show up again.