THE MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA

ALLEGORY -- a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I WANT SPIKE LEE TO MAKE GOOD MOVIES – SPIKE IS AN ICONIC FIGURE - somebody or something widely and uncritically admired, especially somebody or something symbolizing a movement or field of activity
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I CAN’T RECALL A SPIKE LEE PICTURE THAT GOT LESS BUZZ THAN THIS FILM. NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT IT – I ONLY KNOW TWO GUYS WHO HAVE SEEN IT – MAKE THAT ONE GUY, THE OTHER JUST ASKED ABOUT IT.
AS RANDY JAMES OF CHARLOTTE, VIA BROOKLYN, POINTED OUT, SPIKE SHOWS US THAT HE HAS A WIDE VARIETY OF TECHNIQUES AND SKILLS AS A DIRECTOR. THE SHOTS, SETTING AND CAMERA POSITIONS IN THE EARLY GOING AND THROUGHOUT THE FILM ARE REALLY WONDERFUL.
THIS IS A GREAT LOOKING FILM – MASTERFUL SCENES ARE PHOTOGRAPHED. THE CAMERA IS LIKE A CHARACTER IN THE STORY – IT IS SO INTIMATE WITH THE CHARACTERS – I CAN’T RECALL A MORE BEAUTIFUL FILM TO LOOK AT THAN THIS ONE, WITHOUT GOING BACK TO “DAYS OF HEAVEN” 1978 AND DIRECTOR TERRENCE MALICK , WHO WAS FAMOUS FOR HIS BEAUTIFUL FRAMES OF MAGNIFICENT COLORS AND IMAGES.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
THAT IS THE GOOD PART – THE VISUAL.

THE PROBLEM IS WE NEED A STORY AND WE HAVE MORE STORY THAN WE NEED.
THIS IS A HODGE PODGE LODGE OF PLOTS, SCENARIOS, VIGNETTES, TALES, ADVENTURES, FANTASIES, MYTHS. WHATEVER.
IT TRIES TOO HARD TO DO TOO MUCH – YOU COULD MAKE FIVE FEATURE FILMS OUT OF ALL THE STUFF THAT IS EXPLORED IN THIS FILM – BUT YOU CAN’T MAKE ONE EXCELLENT FILM OUT OF MIXING TOGETHER FIVE OR MORE STORYLINES.
EVERYTHING IS WELL DONE, BUT NO ONE COULD TELL YOU THE CENTRAL THEME OF THE PICTURE. FIVE PEOPLE COULD EACH TELL YOU A DIFFERENT PLOT AND ALL WOULD BE RIGHT. THIS IS A ONE SIZE FITS ALL MOVIE.
TOO OFTEN IT STAYS ON A TOPIC THAT IS NOT WORTH THE TIME DEVOTED TO IT – ESPECIALLY THE DRAGGED OUT SCENES INVOLVING THE CHARACTERS, ANGELO AND TRAIN. I JUST REALIZED THAT FIVE STORYLINES IS GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATING THE PLOTS IN THIS FILM.
I WON’T GO ON WITH THIS REACTION – THE FILM IS GOOD TO LOOK AT – IT HAS A LOT OF STORY LINES AND THE BEST THING TO DO IS VIEW IT AS AN ALLEGORY AND LET EACH VIEWER TAKE AWAY WHAT HE OR SHE WANTS FROM THE FEAST OF PLOTS AND SUBPLOTS ON THE TABLE.

WHY IS IT CALLED 'THE MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA,' REMAINS A MYSTERY TO ME.

I SAW TWO LUCKY BREAKS AND A LOT OF BAD LUCK.

WHAT WAS THE MIRACLE – IN ALL THE PLOTS, I MISSED THE ONE THAT WAS A MIRACLE.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What's not to fall in love with visually when a movie is set in Italy. I have read that before the movie opened in Italy last week, the people protested the liberal stance that Spike took with his interruption of the Italian resistance movement, but he did collaborate with official Italian Heritage agencies as he filmed. Maybe that was his biggest problem; he trusted the Italians.
I loved the movie despite its obvious flaws.