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Film Title: Miracle at St. Anna

 Best for ages: 17 and up.

Movie Website: Click Here

Year Released: 2008

Rated: R (US)

SYNOPSIS

Click Miracle at St. Anna is a film that is not for the faint at heart. Just a quick warning there. The film follows four African-American soldiers who get trapped in a  village in Tuscan, Italy during WWII.  Surround by the Nazi army one of the soldiers named Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller) risks his life to save a young boy whom he believes holds a gift of being able to talk to God. Sam is followed into the town by three of his fellow soldiers where they hold up until they are able to find a way back to the American base.  while there, they get a radio call from their superior who tells them to capture a Nazi solder for interrogation so they can find where the Nazi's are.  However they instead run into a group of men who are part of the Italian Resistance.  But one of the men is a traitor and is responsible for a whole town being massacred by the Nazi army. The boy, knows who he is, and unable to speak English he has trouble communicating with the American soldiers to warn them that this man is no good. The film takes on many tasks as the African-American soldiers try to rise above the many tasks that are handed to them and with faith at their backs, they will try to survive the hell of the Nazi army and the racist propaganda that is being spread throughout the village and the troubles with a white commander that does not want to listen to the men about what's going on in the village, and where the Nazi army could be.

THE REVIEW

    Like, I mentioned above Miracle at St. Anna is not a film for people who can't handle excessive violence and blood and gore. One of the first scenes in the film takes place on a battle field where many African-American soldiers are killed by the Nazi army. Throughout the whole film there is a lot of graphic violence that really shows the true nature of war and how evil the Nazi army was. There are even some scenes that as a parent bought tears of anger to my eyes and had me cursing the Nazi armies for the evils they did to the many people that feel victim to World War II.  Director Spike Lee did not sugar coat anything, he told the story like it was and exposed the truth like it was. Young children are killed by the Nazi armies, as well as many innocent men and women who lived in the villages throughout Tuscan, Italy.  It's a film that is not only full or a lot of violence but sadness as well. It's a war film, plain and simple. I think it's mainly aimed towards history buffs and men who like their great epic war films. Its very similar to films like Saving Private Ryan, Platoon and Schindler's List.

   Besides some minor flaws in it's editing and style of shots used, the movie is pretty solid. The script is one that really grabs you right from the beginning and the movie deals with many social issues not only of the past time, but ones that still linger in society today. I for one really fell in love with the story and how well written each character in the film was pit to paper and the details of their personalities. The acting in the film is also very good with some great performances from our lead character and supporting cast. The film also has some very realistic looking war scenes and the production value is top notch.

    Miracle at St. Anna is not a film to show to your kids despite the great history that the film does have as it correlates to that of World War II. the graphic violence is way to over the top for even some adults, but I'm sure there are some teens who will be able to handle it, and learn a lot about what the people of not just Italy went though but all of Europe, as well as the many American soldiers who lost their lives or lived though such a horrible time in human history. Another thing I think I should also mention is that there are subtitles used in the movie a lot because many of the characters speak different languages besides English, so expect to read a lot.

    Overall I found Miracle at St. Anna to be a very touching and horrifying film.  Its one of those movies that really makes you feel what the characters are going though, and the tough times that many people of all different kinds of ethnicities went though during World War II. I can't stress enough the over abundant graphic violence in the movie, but it's a true resemblance of what really happened during World War II. The film does end on a very happy note, one that is both touching and spiritually uplifting. 

What makes this film rated R.

Violence:

Fighting: YES

Killing: YES

Guns: YES

Gun Fights: YES

People/Animals being shot (by gun ,arrow or other projectile weapons): YES

Stabbing/Strangling: Yes

Bombings: YES

Women harmed/killed: YES

Children harmed/killed: YES (Very young children are shot and killed and a toddler is knifed to death by a Nazi soldier after the child's parents are gunned down by a Nazi firing squad. Its a very, very upsetting scene. But it shows how nasty Hitler's army was. )

Domestic Violence: NO

Animated Violence: (Cartoon Violence similar to Looney Toons) NO

Graphic Content:

Sex: YES (Non-Graphic)

Nudity: YES

Partial Nudity (Underwear/bra/bikini): YES

Revealing Clothes (Cleavage/low cut shorts/pants): YES

Blood: YES

Shootings: YES

Gore: YES

Sickness: YES

Death: YES

People Dying: YES

Drowning: YES (Tony Stark is tortured by having his head pushed in a tank of water)

Suicide: YES

Police Brutality: NO

Corruption: YES

Drug Use: NO

Alcohol Use: YES

Smoking: YES

Greed: YES

Gambling: YES

Language:

Insults (Jerk, Idiots etc..) YES

Cursing: YES (Very Mild)

Crude Language: YES

Sexual Innuendos: YES

Sexual Insults: YES

Sexual Come-ons: YES

Adult Conversations: YES

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