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Miracle at St. Anna

2008 film directed by Spike Lee

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 6, 2026
Entity authorityQ1002100 ↗
Source-derived summary

Miracle at St. Anna is a 2008 epic war film directed by Spike Lee and written by James McBride, based on McBride's 2003 novel. The film stars Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Pierfrancesco Favino and Valentina Cervi, with John Turturro, Joseph Gordon Levitt, John Leguizamo, D.B. Sweeney and Kerry Washington in supporting roles. Set primarily in Italy during the Italian campaign of World War II, the film tells the story of four Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division who seek refuge in a small Tuscan village, where they form a bond with the residents. The story is presented as a flashback, as one survivor, Hector Negron (Alonso), reflects upon his experiences in a frame story set in 1980s New York. Several real-life events that occurred during the war, such as the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre, are re-enacted, placing Miracle at St. Anna within the genre of historical fiction.

The film is a co-production of the United States and Italy. Lee first learned of the novel in 2004 and approached McBride with the idea of a film adaptation. In Europe, the film's development attracted the attention of Italian film producers Roberto Cicutto and Luigi Musini, who helped finance the $45 million production.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Miracle at St. Anna” as 2008 film directed by Spike Lee. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Miracle, Anna and film.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2008, 2003, 2004—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—2008-01-01, 2008-09-07—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Miracle, Anna and film providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Miracle at St. Anna”, the useful work is to connect “2008 film directed by Spike Lee” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1002100. VIAF identifies the subject as 177176933. The Library of Congress control number is n2009014099. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2008, 2003 and 2004.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Miracle at St. Anna”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Miracle at St. Anna primary sources, Miracle at St. Anna archive and Miracle research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Miracle at St. Anna”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Miracle at St. Anna” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.