Spike Lee's Miracle at St Anna angers Italian WWII partisans

Rome - Italian anti-Fascist resistance veterans have reacted angrily to Spike Lee's film Miracle at St Anna, which deals with the exploits of black US soldiers in Italy during World War II, but also with a massacre of civilians committed by Nazi troops. On Tuesday, a branch of Italy's main partisan association ANPI said it would picket a screening of the film because of the "historical lies" it contained. ANPI militants would also distribute pamphlets at the screening scheduled for Wednesday in the Tuscan city of Viareggio to protest the "offence against the Resistance."At issue is Lee's portrayal of a fictional resistance fighter- turned Nazi collaborator. The character, Rodolfo, is shown through his treachery as having had a hand in the real-life 1944 Nazi massacre of some 560 civilians in the Tuscan town of Sant'Anna di Stazzema. Lee attended a press screening of the film in Rome on Monday together with the script-writer James McBride, and later they both fielded questions, many of which revolved around the controversy. "I am very sorry if I have offended the partisans," said McBride, adding that as a Black American "we understand what it's like for someone to tell your history, and they are not you."Lee however, was more defiant. "I am not apologizing for anything," the US director said. "I think these questions are evidence that there is still a lot about your history during the war that you (Italians) have got to come to grips with," Lee said. Veteran Italian director Mario Monicelli said that while a resistance fighter turning traitor was "not implausible," he questioned Lee's motives. "Why invent this story and for what purpose?" he asked. The film, which is being screened at cinemas throughout Italy beginning Friday, is likely to spark more debate in a country where the World War II period continues to be a bitter, dividing issue. The centre-left has for years extolled the virtues of the partisans, who took up arms against the Nazis who occupied Italy following the dismissal of Fascist-dictator Benito Mussolini in 1943 by King Victor Emmanuel III. But many on the right share the sentiments recently expressed by Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa, who said respect was also due to those Italians who continued to fight alongside Nazi Germany, in the belief that they were doing so for the good of their country.

 

So a director so ticked off that blacks aren't properly displayed in movies he goes and improperly displays Italians. Then insults them at a press conference. Yep, any possibility of me watching this film has gone right out the window

 

What a putz LOL. Its ok to offend everyone but those of his own race

 

Nothing new from Spike Lee actually...

 

What black people being racist towards Italians? Impossible!

YouTube - Jeremiah Wright - Hillary Clinton ain't never been called...

Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer

 

spike lee is a two-faced jackass. I now definately aren't going to see the film.

 

Is that anything like a minatour

 

I wouldn't know about the person Spike Lee as such, but his comments towards the Italian press might be considered harsh but not untrue.

A family member of mine was in Italy during 44-45 and many times he gave account about "those Italians" shaking his head.

It is known until today that the partisans in Italy were to a great part bandits especially those of the communist branch who were mostly occupied with killing/murdering their own countrymen. They weren't better then those SS or Wehrmachtunits that were involved in destroying towns and murdering civilians.

So if someone makes a movie about Italy during 1943-45, it would be IMO indeed a one sided movie if this dark part of Italy's history would be neglected or fell victim due to censorship.

Regards
Kruska

 

Kruska
The Italian history of the 1943-45 periods deserves better than your comments.

The true story of the partisan movement is still too "hot" politically to get a balanced treatement by Italian historians and foreign researchers have mostly treated it in a very superficial way.
Calling the partisan bandits, which sounds a lot like the "banditen" in the german proclamations that justified the St Anna massacre, is shortsighted, there have no doubt been some atrocities committed by the partisans but placed in the context of the size of the partisan movement they involved a minority. I suspect that if you look at any civil war, and what happened in Italy in 44/45 was one, you will find similar episodes.
I have known partisan, co-belligerant (the people who escaped to the south and fought alongside the allies) and RSI (those who continued to fight alongside the Germans) veterans and all of them believed what they did was right, I would not call any of them a bandit or a traitor. Most of them don't like to talk about those years and feel that it cannot be explained to someone who "was not there" and I tend to agree with them.

BTW who would be doing the censorship? Italy has a free press, you can find thousands of pages published from representatives of the above groups, millions of lines of propaganda on the "brutal reds" or "glorious resistance fighter" themes and even some good historical resarch if you look for it.

 

I think quite a few of us have been too Otto.

 

For old movie lovers, I give you my two favourite Italian ex-Resistants, Don Camilo and Giuseppe Peppone

YouTube - Don Camillo E L'Onorevole Peppone - Avete Mangiato Di Magro?

 

Hello Otto,

you are shocked about the fact that the Italian bandits were as bad as those SS and Wehrmachtsoldiers who committed the same crimes???

I never stated that the Italian partisans in general were as bad as........., but I did state:
"It is known until today that the partisans in Italy were to a great part bandits especially those of the communist branch"

The internet is full about articles refering about attrocities commited by the Nazis and the Italian Facists towards the Italian partisans and the Italian civil population - very little is known about those "Bandit" elements who committed the same attrocities towards their own population, their own countrymen who fought alongside the facists or against Wehrmacht and SS soldiers.

I am not judging between who was right and wrong or who was left or right but about the attrocities comitted in Italy on all sides. If you would travel to Tirol you could hear countless reports about Tirolian civilians murdered by partisans - however the Tirolians also know the difference between a Partisan and a Bandit.

So do the Italians, and this is also the reason why the Itallian government did never highight or investigate to much into its dark history of 1943-45. It is only since about 10 years ago that hundreds of documents were released from a vault describing those individual incidents - such as St Anna.

It is due to these Bandit groups and the fact of Italians fighting/killing Italians that the Italian puplic has a problem to generally declare the Partisans as national heros and as such does not want to bring up its contoversal resistance history.

That the Nazis and Italian facists have commited horrendous attrocities in Italy and elsewhere has never been disputed or rejected by me - however the existence of traitors among the partisans (such as Spike Lee forwards) or attrocities commited by those Bandit groups can't be ignored or disputed as well.

Regards
Kruska

 

i'll go and see it and i will post my opinion on the film later

 

I know this is old but, Clint Eastwood got into a huge fight with Spike lee about this movie. Bassically Clint says its all bullshit lies.

 

Decoder do you have a link to Clints's comments about the film?? Thanks!

 

Here's a little piece that puts everything in proper perspective (Lee vs Eastwood)...now I guess I won't watch MASAs even on the airlines!

Fairfield County Weekly: Film - The Martyrdom of St. Spike

 

More in the WWII Films and TV forum .

http://www.ww2f.com/wwii-films-tv/25971-miracle-st-anna.html

 

you know your classics Za, now finish that dinner and drink that glass of olive oil

 

Hollywood Feud: Clint Eastwood vs Spike Lee | NewsBusters.org here it is!
"Does he know anything about American history?" Eastwood told Focus when asked about Lee's criticism. "The U.S. military was segregated til the Korean War, and the blacks in World War Two were totally segregated. The only black battalion on Iwo Jima was a small munitions supply unit that came to the beach.
"The story was about the men who raised the flag and we can't make them black if they were not there. So tell him: Why don't you go back and study your history and stop mouthing off!"


Spike lee = IDIOT!