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Spoiler Points for Miracle at St. Anna (2008) [R] 160 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $14.50
DVD Release Date: Unscheduled (please check back)
Spoiler Points for Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna
Pivotal Events Leading Up to the Miracle at St. Anna's Church
• The Fox Company has four survivors:
2nd Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke)
Sergeant Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy)
Corporal Hector Negron (Laz Alonso)
Private First Class Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller)
• More probably would have survived if the white colonel in charge had believed Stamps when he radioed in their location.
• In an abandoned home in the countryside, Train encounters and saves a from death a little boy named Angelo (Matteo Sciabordi). Train believes that the statue head he carries is able to protect him from harm. The little boy believes that the 'chocolate giant' is his savior. At one point he licks him to see if he tastes like chocolate, but finds out that he does not. The two become inseparable.
• They arrive at an Italian village protected by a wanted partisan called "The Great Butterfly" by the Germans. He's really Peppi Grotta (Pierfrancesco Favino) and he's beloved by the family with whom the four soldiers take their refuge. The eldest daughter of the house, Renata (Valentina Cervi) catches the eye of Stamps and Bishop. The villagers take care of Angelo. Hector tries to fix their radio so they can contact their commanding officers. In the mean time, Bishop and Stamps are in charge with Stamps slightly out-ranking Bishop but with Bishop feeling that Stamps is not the best leader.
• An important General arrives to inform his subordinates that Hitler wants two things accomplished immediately: the capture of renegade partisan 'The Great Butterfly' and the traitor soldier, Hans Brundt (Jan Pohl). He gives no explanations.
The Tragedy and Miracle at St. Anna's Church
• Unbeknownst to Peppi, his best friend Rodolfo (Sergio Albelli) is a traitor working in collusion with the Germans out of some desire for revenge on the death of his brother. So as not to blow his cover, he sets up a meeting such that 'the Great Butterfly' can take refuge in the village of St. Anna's church. He then tells the Nazis that 'the Great Butterfly' will be there. The Germans arrive and he's not there. So, they round up the townspeople, over 500 of them, into the square in front of the church and threaten to kill them all if they don't surrender the partisan. They don't know anything about the partisan, but that doesn’t matter to the German commander. After minutes of waiting for information, he orders the slaughter of the entire population of the town.
• But one German solider refuses to comply with the order, Hans Brundt, who, in fact, tries to save two little boys, brothers Angelo and Arturo Torancelli. Arturo is killed, but Angelo escapes as does Hans. But Hans is now a marked man for not only did he disobey his orders, but he's witnessed the senseless massacre.
The Climax of the Film
• Peppi and his partisans capture Hans—only Rodolfo knows he's a traitor wanted by the Germans.
• Peppi and his men return to the village with the German, but no one speaks German so they cannot get anything out of him.
• As Train and Angelo bond like father and son, Hector speaks to him in Italian and finds out his name for Train. Train teaches him to speak out important things to him with 1-6 taps on the right side, collar bone. Somehow, the radio is miraculously fixed, Angelo says he did it. Angelo recognizes the German and Rodolfo. He tells Hector he's afraid of Rudolfo, but he doesn't explain why.
• Rudolfo is sent up to see what he can see from higher ground. He sees the German army approaching but returns saying the coast is clear.
• And they learn that their commanding officer wants them to capture a German soldier so they can interrogate him for details. Fortunately, they have a German prisoner in their midst. But, Peppi and Rudlofo don want to give him up. They want information from him first. The colonel will be arriving soon for the prisoner.
• In the meantime, Hector takes the prisoner out accompanied by Rodolfo. When the time is right, Rudolfo slits the German's neck, and tries to kill Hector. He's unsuccessful. Rudolfo finds Peppi and claims that the American killed the German, he then has no choice but to kill Peppi. Hector comes upon Rudolfo and tries to kill him, but he gets away.
• Captain Nokes (Walton Goggins) arrives with his first officer, Lieutenant Birdsong (Tory Kittles). He wants the German. The German is dead. Nokes if furious. He wants to collect the men and leave, but Train won't give up the kid. When Birdsong tries to put the kid back with the Italians, Train grabs him by the neck and almost kills him like Lenny in Of Mice and Men.
• Just then, the German ambush begins and they start killing everyone in sight.
• Angelo appears to get shot and die in Train's arms. Train takes his body to the doorway of a church. He's hit too. He transfers the kid and the statue head to Bishop. In trying to rescue them both, Bishop ends up getting hit and killed. Hector and Stamps remain, but Stamps is hit and killed. Hector is hit, but the bullet hits the radio not him. Arturo appears in spirit form to save his brother. Angelo gives the sculpture head to Hector to protect him, and Hector gives him the cross he's been wearing around his neck throughout the war. Arturo disappears and Angelo walks around the corner. A German commander walks up to Hector and hands him a gun saying "Defend yourself". Hector is saved by the Americans some time later.
The End of the Film
• On 24 June 1984, in the Manhattan Superior Court, Zana Wilder shows up to defend one Hector Negron on trial for killing a man in cold blood at a NYC post office. She posts the $2 million bail, and he is free. It is now clear that the man in the post office was Rudolfo and Hector had finally put the traitor to death.
• Hector is sent to the Bahamas via the strings of someone fantastically wealthy. He arrives on the beach to meet his benefactor, and he sees the statue head on a table. It had been sent back to Italy after being found in his apartment and then identified as the missing head of the Primavera Statue from the Elliptical Bridge in Italy. Hector approaches the man (Luigi Lo Cascio) on the beach. As he gets even closer, the man returns his cross to him. It is Angelo all grown up!
What was the John Wayne Movie playing on the TV in Hector's apartment?The Longest Day (1962)
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