Spike Lee has reached into his arsenal of heavy hitters with yet another story of Black Americans enforcing truth and justice on the powers that be in Miracle at St. Anna. This time, it’s a fictional story based on a novel and screenplay written by James McBride about a small group of Buffalo Soldiers from the infamous all-black 92^nd Infantry Division, headed by Derek Luke (Sergeant Aubrey Stamps) with Michael Ealy (Bishop Cummings), Omar Benson Miller (Sam Train) and Laz Alonso (Hector Negron) in World War II.

Stationed in Tuscany Italy, the infantry of twenty or more start to cross a seemingly softly rippling river when a parade of deadly bullets engulfs them. The four survivors who feverishly escape the Nazi attack are left to their own defenses with little help from their white commander, who shouts to them over the radio to stop lying about making it over the river. This is where the story begins. 

In a spared Tuscan town, they meet a slew of memorable characters, including a little eight-year-old Italian boy named Alonzo who has also survived a slaughter of sorts. Alonzo becomes a symbol of hope for the four soldiers and they immediately take him along for the ride. Along their search for refuge, the five meet and settle into a devastated village where Germans have ravaged and plundered their food and livelihood but not their dreams of freedom. Oddly enough, the family of a father and his daughter and the other very few town members, believe that the Sleeping Man, a mystical legend generations old, will save them. They are a loving and happy people even through the war and take the soldiers and the boy in for safekeeping.

Spike Lee doesn’t sugar coat World War II; depicting every bit of the death, vicious chaos, and back stabbing behavior that both sides display. Blood is splattered, throats are slit, and best friends seek revenge against each other, all in the name of survival. In the end, truth and justice prevail, albeit in an unrealistic, almost fantasy ending.

Hector Negron is the only member of the Infantry to survive and carries the wounds and secrets of his time spent in Italy well into his elder years, So much so, that he commits murder to avenge his fellow soldiers in the opening scene of the movie. This murder starts the drama and questions America’s ability to move past the monstrous remnants of war.

Miracle at St. Annaleaves you with many questions, but it is still a movie worth seeing and discussing. Aside from the subtitles and unbelievable sequence of supposed endings and over two and a half hour running time, you’ll be amazed at how Spike Lee continues to throw the hardest punch to traditional America. Black men are portrayed as intelligent, worldly, graciously patriotic, and beautifully noble in this film. If for no other reason, take someone special to see Miracle at St. Anna and remember that war doesn’t end, even when you come home.