Friday, October 17, 2008

Clint Eastwood 1, Spike Lee 0

Photobucket

This summer, Spike Lee and Clint Eastwood got into a very public war of words, when Lee attacked Eastwood for not giving enough representation to African-American soldiers in his duo of WWII films, Flags Of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima. Lee made the comments at the Cannes film festival, where he just happened to be showcasing an eight minute reel of his own WWII epic, Miracle At St. Anna. While I understood Lee's point, his actions played out as nothing more than some bait to throw journalists to give free promotion to his upcoming film. As for Eastwood, his reaction was just as juvenile, and I frankly thought his WWII films were a pedestrian endeavor at best. All that said, I hoped that Lee would back up his vitriol with a film that would finally bring a real African-American perspective to WWII.

He didn't.

Miracle At St. Anna is a qualified trainwreck that conversely has too much and too little within its overly long two hour and forty minute running time. What is in excess is plot, with James McBride's script (adapted from his own novel) overflowing with multiple, meandering plot lines that often stall and stutter, instead of advancing the story. Thus, its all the more vexing that every character in the film - the quartet of black soldiers; German soliders; Italian citizens and even Americans back home - never develop beyond one dimensional characters. It's hard to believe that the same man who made the wonderfully furious and complex Do The Right Thing is responsible for the run of baby killing Germans, gesticulating Italians, backward hillbillies and ignorant American Army brass that populate the film. McBride and Lee even have the audacity of tossing in a "magical negro", an archetype which Lee himself so famously derided, into one of the lead roles.

As I waited with growing impatience for the film to end, wondering why John Leguizamo, John Turturro and Joseph Gordon-Levitt all signed up for roles that were essentially nothing more than (wasted) cameos, it was Derek Luke's magnetic performance that kept me invested in the film. And the photo still above starts one of the most powerful shots/sequences in the film, that ranks right up there with Lee's most memorable scenes, and it still gave me hope that Lee had something up his sleeve for the ending.

But it wasn't to be.

McBride's script closes the film with a conclusion so pat and sweet, you may need to see the dentist, and then as if to up the unbelievability factor, Lee treats the audience to "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" over the end credits. Lee's film is so bad that comparing it Eastwood's film - or any other WWII film for that matter - is just embarrassing.

Spike Lee hasn't lost his passion, but with Miracle At St. Anna, he lost his focus. With the film unfolding in a few different directions - WWII epic, revenge film and fantasy film - it never gels into a cohesive whole. His indictment of the treatment of African-American soldiers simply gets lost in the mechanics of a preposterous, overly complicated story. I'm still rooting for Spike Lee but he needs to get back to the kind of lean, effective filmmaking that made Do The Right Thing, Clockers, Get On The Bus, 25th Hour and Inside Man so invigorating and powerful.

2 comments:

Ab Jagernauth, CGA said...

Instead of critising Clint Eastwood, Spike Lee should see what he can learn from him. Eastwood has created a whole body of work which speaks for itself. So does Lee, but Lee still has a long road ahead of him and should, at the very least, be more respectful of Eastwood, one of Hollywood's "elder statesmen". Lee's political views and grandstanding can only hurt him. If he is serious about film-making, he should focus on film-making and leave the politics to the politicians. Lee can use his films to make his points.

Kim Dubuisson said...

I'm not a fan of Clint Eastwood the director.
I have nothing against him but films like MILLION DOLLAR BABY, MYSTIC RIVER and UNFORGIVEN are overblown Hollywood crap that the Oscar love to "appreciate".

Seriously, how can a tear jerking mess like MILLION DOLLAR BABY actually have him and Hilary Swank (the less said about her the better), win them Oscar when another boxing film from 2005, CRYING FIST (JUMEOGI UNDA) from South Korean director Ryu Seung-wan go unnoticed... oh right, its a South Korean film... that's why!

As for Spike Lee, the guy should be ashamed of himself. This so called controversial director has been feeding us useless crap like 25TH HOUR and INSIDE MAN. Seriously, where is the socially and politically involved Spike Lee?! Not here, thats for sure. He blames the system but so cheaply use it to his "advantage" to create somehow of controversy that its pathetic and he should be ashamed of himself.

Seriously, it is time for both of them to quit.