Review of Miracle at St. Anna (2008) by Nelson E — 25 Aug 2009

When I heard from the pretty little presentation that you get at the Arclight before the movie begins that the movie is 2 hours and 40 minutes I thought, "okay, way to go on the impulse buy Ben!" However, towards the middle my interest became locked and I forgot about how long the movie was and became intrigued.

So right around when the soldiers are restrained to the village is when the story really gets interesting. Probably a lot because of the fact that you're just now relating to the soldiers, they're not just random soldiers that are getting shot at and killed and you really don't connect with them until this point in the movie.

Probably why a lot of people didn't care for it up until here or lost attention here and didn't want to get into the rest of the story. I did think, because of this matter, it could've been shortened to keep our attention as the audience the whole way through.

It was a good movie, don't get me wrong. Some powerful scenes, like when Derek Luke and Michael Ealy's characters are debating outside the Tuscan house over African American's rights in society to make a difference in the war/world, I TOTALLY felt the power in that scene, and it was just 2 guys talking.

The best cinema a lot of the time is just a couple characters talking, my favorite movie EVER (12 Angry Men) is like that and is why I like it. I believe the music had a lot to do with that. Spike Lee's music in his films, in particular Inside Man, which I just found out he's doing sequel to, plays a significant part in his films.

They give a sensational chill through my body that there's something amazingly good about the movie, even if it may not start to hold my interests until half way through. At least I know that the message is serious and that the intent is massive and a powerful message is going to come out of it in the end.

That and a lot of other emotions are running through me when I hear a score in a Spike Lee movie. I respect the fact that he took his filmmaking to another level and made a period piece that most people wouldn't expect him to make.

However, he did still keep an obvious similarity and comparison to his life maybe by assumption, or just a comparison that people can automatically and immediately connect him to, race. Which is what I, as a filmmaker are striving to get away from.

No I wouldn't mind doing a film as such, but my goal is to make films that no one expects me to make. Not putting down this film or Spike Lee's filmmaking ability, I liked the film. Just think that someday I'll make something that no one can find an obvious reason as to why I could've made that particular film.

Not to mention Valentina Cervi added a nice touch to the film. Her character's involvement was believable in the sense that her relationship to the soldiers as well as her influence on them, probably would've happened in a situation like that.

And not to mention, she was amazing to look at. I want to go get all of her movies now b/c of her acting in this film as well as her beauty, which is what movies should do to us. Ah the power of cinema prevails again!