Interview: ‘Miracle at St. Anna’ Director Spike Lee

September 30, 2008

In Miracle at St. Anna, four African-American soldiers are trapped behind enemy lines in Italy near the end of World War II; caught between indifferent leadership and hostile troops, the four fight to survive — and protect the Italian villagers they’ve come to know during their exile. Director Spike Lee spoke with Cinematical from New York about the challenges of film financing in modern Hollywood (”it’s hard to get stuff made today that’s not superhero, comic-book, Television show, sequel stuff. …”), shooting in an 800-year-old Italian town (” … all we’d to do was take down the satellite dishes …”) and the challenges his new film faces (” … historically, women don’t run to see, or even walk to see, or even crawl to see World War II films …”), The Wire (”‘Omar’s Coming!’”), sequel possibilities for Inside Man and more.

Lee even touched on politics and race in the here-and-now: “I’m optimistic. We’re going to have a Black president. The 44th President of the United Says is going to be a Black man … I think this is a definite indication of how far America has moved in how it views race. …”

Cinematical: I was very curious if you could talk a little bit about the genesis of what brought you specifically to Miracle at St. Anna as a film?

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