PDA

View Full Version : Spike Lee to focus on black soldiers



jetdawgg
07-03-07, 11:08 AM
ROME - Spike Lee announced plans Tuesday to make a movie about the struggle against Nazi occupiers in Italy during World War II that he hopes will highlight the contribution of black American soldiers who fought and died to liberate Europe.

The film will spotlight the courage of black soldiers who, despite suffering discrimination back home, offered a contribution that has so far gone largely unnoticed in other Hollywood movies, Lee said.

"We have black people who are fighting for democracy who at the same time are classified as second-class citizens," the 50-year-old filmmaker said. "That is why I'd like to do a film to show how these brave black men, despite all the hardship they were going through, still pushed that aside and fought for the greater good."

Based on the novel "Miracle at St. Anna" by James McBride, the movie will tell the story of four black American soldiers, all members of the Army's all-black 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division, who are trapped behind enemy lines in an Italian village in Tuscany in 1944.

Filming is planned in Tuscany, Rome and the United States, Lee said.
Shooting is expected to start early next year, said producer Roberto Cicutto.
Cicutto said the movie will cost $45 million.

"This is a wonderful story and what makes it even more wonderful is that it is based upon true incidents," Lee said. "If you look at the history of Hollywood, the black soldiers who fought World War II are invisible."

The film will also look at the relationship between the soldiers and the villagers, some of whom are partisans.

"We had good relationships with the Italian people, they gave us a lot of information," recalled 82-year-old William Perry who, at 19, was an infantry soldier in the Buffalo Division.

"I'm not a hero, the heroes are those buried in the American cemetery in Florence. I hope this movie will put a positive spin on some of our activities here," Perry said.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070703/capt.73e2b64e665c4a23a366bb6383ea6abb.italy_spike_ lee_rom112.jpg?x=180&y=263&sig=ApiK2dKArNTGMKcGuPWs7A-- (http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070703/482/73e2b64e665c4a23a366bb6383ea6abb;_ylt=AmFMAZIzh4Gr LXgOUJSqRuFY24cA)
AP Photo: (http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070703/482/73e2b64e665c4a23a366bb6383ea6abb;_ylt=AgEgaph62a.i uiA.lRV._GJY24cA) Filmmaker Spike Lee, left, and William Perry, 82, who at the age of 19 was...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070703/ap_en_ot/people_spike_lee

jetdoc
07-03-07, 02:59 PM
I'm kinda hot and cold about Lee, but I will for sure check out the movie when it comes out.

jetdawgg
07-03-07, 03:01 PM
He should do one on the Marines:usmc:

jetdoc
07-03-07, 03:06 PM
Now that would be a story.

Of course it would mostly have to be based on battles in the South Pacific if during WWII...it would be interesting to see what happend on Iwo...the blacks were not segregated back then were they? Hope thats not a stupid question.

I see Lee mentioned the "Buffalo Soldiers" in the post above. I live on the Eastern Shore of Md and see the Buffalo Soldiers M/C riding around fairly often, chated with a few folks if they were in the parking lot of a grocery store or what not. Good dudes it seems.

drumcorpssnare
07-03-07, 03:12 PM
Jetdawgg- It's about time this story was told. Since 1776, black Americans have served their country with distinction. It's a sad story in our history that they were not given the proper recognition at the time it was earned.

I'm suprised you'd get behind this story though, jet. After all, they were Americans, in a foreign country, killin' the bad guys... Kinda like today, in Iraq.:D
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

jetdawgg
07-03-07, 03:17 PM
jdoc the Marines have conflicting historical events when it comes to African Americans before the Korean War. I have read many stories and visited many websites. I still don't know the truth.

drums I joined the Marines to fight all enemies, foreign and domestic. I have the right to question those who put Marines into a situation of peril. Not to do so is un-American:usmc:

jetdoc
07-03-07, 03:38 PM
jdoc the Marines have conflicting historical events when it comes to African Americans before the Korean War. I have read many stories and visited many websites. I still don't know the truth.

drums I joined the Marines to fight all enemies, foreign and domestic. I have the right to question those who put Marines into a situation of peril. Not to do so is un-American:usmc:

I hear you on the conflicting historical accounts dawgg. I had a friend, an older gentleman, by the name of Archibald Henderson Riley. He was about 75 or so, before he passed a few years ago, and was in the Marines right towards the end of WWII. (on a side note, he passed away in a car accident about 4 years ago, but still drove a car, worked and was strong as all get out...he still had some serious muscle tone as well).

I would go over to his home and he had USMC photos around and he told me some stories. He went through bootcamp in NC, not Parris Island. It may have been not too rare to train recruits in other bases during WWII, not sure?

The pictures he had were Marines, or as he said, his "crew". They were mostly platoon sized it seemed. They were all black guys however. These were USMC photos, not some guy getting his buddies together for a pic. So it seemed they were somewhat segregated back in the mid 40's?

Archie said his job was to drive bombs around in trucks. Thats what he and his "crew" did. He was proud of his job, didn't look at it as nothing else but what he did.

He was the most happiest guy I've ever met, especially considering how poor he was. It broke my heart when he died. His car broke down and he wasn't able to get it all the way over on the shoulder of the road. It seems he was back by the trunk, doing something, and a big azzed propane truck came blasting down the road and basically just vaporized him, :( .

Wow, how did I get off on that note? I 100% agree about having the right to question...I do, without a doubt. If you don't take care of yourself then who else will.

Ed Palmer
07-03-07, 03:39 PM
http://www.mpma28.com/page/page/2271596.htm

Black Marines assigned to Iwo Jima ... were like Black Marines everywhere else ... They were segregated from day one. The story began in the summer of 1941. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had by “Executive Order” declared that men, regardless of color, were to be inducted into the Marine Corps. Old-line Marines, all white of course, screamed to high heaven that didn’t want “Negroes” in the Corps. That “Negroes” could never be trained in the manner “real Marines” of the world-famed organization were trained and that induction of Negroes into the Corps would “hurt the progress of Marines as they moved from one bloody island, to another, in the Pacific war against Japan...”

yellowwing
07-03-07, 03:42 PM
Buffalo Soldiers have a lot of good under reported history. The History Channel has run a few good documentaries.

jetdawgg
07-03-07, 03:49 PM
http://www.lwfaam.net/ (http://www.lwfaam.net/)

jetdoc
07-03-07, 04:08 PM
Good link dawgg.