When Hollywood travels into the past, controversy often follows. And when you’ve got a particularly sensitive story such as Spike Lee’s Miracle At St Anna, which follows a group of black soldiers trapped behind enemy lines in Italy and who arrive at a town of partisans (Italians who battled against fascism), tracking down a traitor in their midst.
The film, which is adapted from James McBride’s novel, focuses on the St Anna Massacre, which saw 560 civilians butchered by German troops in retaliation. But some veterans who fought in World War Two are claiming that Lee is tampering with an important part of their history. "It is a false cinematic reconstruction of events that ignores the real story and will leave an inaccurate impression," partisan veterans Moreno Costa, Enio Mancini and Giovanni Cipollini said in a statement. "The term 'cinematic license' should not mean that the truth can be ignored."
There’s no word on whether the director will make any changes, but for the sake of unimpressed partisans everywhere, we hope he does…
