As if getting destroyed by Kirk Cameron at the box office weren’t bad enough, now Spike Lee’s facing heat from Italian partisans for the historical accuracy of Miracle at St. Anna, a movie he made partially in order to address Hollywood’s failure of historical accuracy when it comes to the experience of black soldiers fighting in World War II.The bone of contention is Spike’s treatment of a 1944 Nazi massacre in Sant’Anna di Stazzema, which the movie apparently depicts as being a reaction to the actions waged by Italian resistance fighters — in turn, the ANPI association of resistance fighters have called out the film in flyers, on their Website, and in public statements. At a press conference in Florence today to promote the film, which opens in Italy on Friday, Spike shot back at the ANPI: “I would not allow anybody to tell me how to make a film, be it a partisan or the president of the United States.†Tell ’em, Spike! In all fairness, this does sound more like the type of sensitive reaction that’s bound to come up when interpreting facts of war than Lee dropping the ball. In related news, no word yet on what the ANPI thought of the historical accuracy of Girl 6.
Spike Lee film angers Italy’s surviving partisans [Reuters]