Behind-the-scenes production of Santa Anna miracle

American movies with Italian characteristics

During World War II, the heroic qualities of four black American soldiers gave the black director Spike Lee a desire to tell stories, so he expanded the range of movies he could accommodate and produced the first war film in his life-The Miracle of Santa Anna. Walking into Cinecittà Studios Movie City in Rome, Italy, you will find that it has been filled with some ancient buildings, because it happens to be the shooting scene of the epic drama "Rome", which not only has many huge and cumbersome houses, but also requires the cooperation of hundreds of extras. Most of the time, they were scattered randomly in ancient Roman towns and towering temples ... The left side of the studio was almost completely shrouded in shadows, but there was a smaller and extremely complicated street scene crouching, which was completely within the "power" of another studio, far away from those noisy voices, and the filmmaker Spike Lee was guiding several actors in a narrow set similar to an alley.

Once we entered the door of this studio, the time was fixed in September, 1944. Four black American soldiers were walking on a beautiful and idyllic Italian country road. Their fingers were all on the trigger of their guns. They looked warily at a group of Italian guerrillas sitting around the dining table and glared at a German prisoner sitting in the opposite direction, gulping soup. A child in the corner suddenly winced. The atmosphere suddenly solidifies nervously, and any words or actions that may lead to misunderstanding may lead to a bloody massacre ... Perhaps the miracle of Santa Ana directed by Spike Lee is not as epic as Rome in the next studio, but Li promised that the film will definitely become a bloody war masterpiece. He said: "From the beginning, the miracle of Santa Ana has been positioned in. Of course, we will not imitate the fighting style instilled by Steven Spielberg in Saving Private Ryan, because the central point of this story is not the Normandy landing. However, the film still created many painful and difficult moments. First of all, there was a terrible bloody massacre in the mountains of Santa Ana-we specially went to the field to shoot the whole set of shots, because I think this shooting technique will help the audience to have a feeling of "dreaming back to ancient times". What could be more shocking than this? In short, The Miracle of Santa Ana will bring a fantastic story to everyone. " The Miracle of Santa Ana is adapted from the novel of the same name by American writer James McBride. The story focuses on the achievements of four soldiers from the 92nd Division of the United States-a team composed entirely of blacks. The original novel is like a mosaic art with Roman style, which pieced together the languages of several different narrators and finally revealed the complex moral distribution map of the whole war.

Spike Lee uses some local actors in his films, and at the same time, lets them talk in their native languages, so you often see English, German, Italian and other different languages appearing in the same scene ... Among all the actors from the United States, the most famous one naturally belongs to Derek Luke, who was excellent in phillip noyce's "Rise Up" about apartheid.

heroism of African-Americans

At first glance, it is really an unusual choice for Spike Lee, who is 51 years old, to shoot such a war film after more than 2 years of filming. However, Li has been steadily accumulating his reputation as a filmmaker by tracking some current news topics. Many of his works are highly controversial and largely influenced by the modern African-American community, just like in School Kaleidoscope, Doing What You Should, Jungle Fever and Suspense, Li studies various sources of conflict in the African-American community. Including the tension between races, the sexual relationship between races and the evil consequences of drug trade, he said: "In fact, many people don't understand that it is the black soldiers who returned from the battlefield of the Second World War that formed the foundation of the civil rights movement. What is happening here is a brand-new state of war. Violence always breaks out in different military training bases all over the country. Because the black soldiers there also hold guns in their hands, they will not let themselves suffer too much ... It is these things that make them realize that only by mastering the corresponding rights in their hands can they gain the respect of others. "

Since childhood, Spike Lee has always maintained an indelible high enthusiasm for war movies. He still remembers that his favorite TV programs at that time were Hogan Hero and Warriors! ) ...... However, Li also noticed that there are few works in Hollywood that specifically interpret the outstanding contributions of American black soldiers in the war. He admitted: "There are still some examples here to illustrate this situation, such as Jimmy Brown in dirty dozen and the special program filmed by HBO for the air force in Taskey. Even so, it is still only a pitiful figure, even the recent film about the war on Iwo Jima. Of course, I would like to remind you that the Miracle of Santa Ana is not an exact restoration of history, and some contents may not have really happened, but for me, what I am really interested in is the war that the United States finally participated in during World War II. It was a confrontation between fascism and democracy. You are either the just side or the aggressor. Of course, if you live in Switzerland, it is another matter. "

Spike Lee never shy away from or covers up any bad comments and disputes, but tries to maintain a neutral attitude on the waves. He also constantly explains that he doesn't want to be the spokesman of the African-American community, but simply chooses the movie theme he likes to engage in ... It was Spike Lee's wife Tonya Lewis Lee who introduced him to this novel called The Miracle of Santa Ana, and Lee was quickly told by the 92nd American Division in Italy. Moreover, Li's uncles also served in the Second World War. Although they didn't take part in the forefront of the war, Li went on to say, "What really fascinates this film is that it focuses on the psychological conflict of four black American soldiers themselves-they know that even if they win in the war, their treatment will not change much after returning home, and they will still be mercilessly accused and slandered. Of course, they sincerely hope that when they triumph, they can get corresponding respect, but they are disappointed. "

Originally, Spike Lee intended that the Miracle of Santa Ana could be treated fairly at Cannes Film Festival, but the producers obviously set their eyes on the international influence and box office achievements brought by the world premiere, so they finally locked in the Venice Film Festival held in September. Li said, "We all hope that the film can be accepted by the Venice Film Festival. Personally, I think, Italians may feel that this is a work made for them ... In short, we are different from those American filmmakers who usually go to Italy to occupy a story theme that does not belong to us. "

Because almost all the contents in The Miracle of Santa Ana took place in the shadow of the quiet Tuscan mountains, Spike Lee spent almost eight weeks shooting in many real and historic scenes, including the Cinquale River, where the 92nd Division and the 148th Brigade, the German backbone, fought a fierce battle ... This is the first time that Li has filmed a film outside the United States. He also admitted that it was not an easy job to shoot such a work with a lot of action scenes in an unfamiliar environment, but he was still very happy to have such an opportunity to see the dedicated work attitude of the next great Italian filmmaker. Li said: "I have never made a war film, nor have I worked outside the United States, nor have I directed such a work that covers four languages, so from any angle, The Miracle of Santa Ana is a film.

Spike Lee has always been fascinated by the wave of Italian neo-realism movies, and what makes him even more happy is that although James McBride, the original author of the novel, has no knowledge of this field at all, the little boy in his story happens to represent one of the themes of that movie period. Li said, "This is a very interesting coincidence. When McBride and I first met, He doesn't know any film works related to Italian neo-realism, and he doesn't know that children are the key in this type of film. Think about The Bicycle Thief, Rome Unprotected and War ... I think the reason why McBride will add a child role to his story can only be said that his intuition in this respect is very keen, and for me, this film is also a tribute to roberto rossellini and vittorio de sica. The Miracle of Santa Ana tells a story about faith, but also pays attention to how miracles are shaped. Everyone has undergone some changes, so there will not be only one miracle in this film. I really hope that the audience can experience this personally. What I want to say is, because I have spent 51 years in this world, I know that miracles are real. After all, it is a miracle that they can allow me to shoot such a film. "