:arrow: ...and speaking of Italy... :wink: http://www.italymag.co.uk/life-culture-style/2007/films/spike-lee-to-make-wwii-film/
Great post! Thank God for Spike Lee, who continues to present the accomplishments of people of color particularly black men throughout history. I was in the Army a few years back and obviously was aware of the segregation policy of its past. But of course, this story escaped me. Then again, it's not like American History classes in high school would make it a priority for these stories to be known. And let's be real. It's not like white Hollywood would have made ANY effort to get this film done of their own. Keep us posted.
1)Funding for the movie is still up in the air, folks? It ain't a done deal. Spike was set t do films about Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis too. It was reported by the press. But those films never came about because of, you guessed it, funding. Unless Will Smith or perhaps Denzel Washington is involved (unlikely for Washington...he's too old for any of the roles) studio heads will have to be convinced that people around the globe is interested in making the movie. 2)I brought the novel the film is based on years ago. Its an "okay" story. Nothing special. And that's a disappointment. Hopefully the script will be better. 3)My one fear is that black filmmakers and black viewers often want films like these made simply to tell the black point of view. And when the films come out black people tend to shower praise on such movies regardless of the quality. Personally I think there are a whole lot of interesting stories centering on black people that we can tell and MUST tell. However if the writers and directors simply think putting black people in the center of such events as World War II makes the movie fresh then they are mistaken. The key is to write an interesting, compelling, fresh and unique script. The people behind these projects should not get lazy and think that correcting omissions concerning black contributions is all that's needed. No, the script must stand on its own regardless. If you give me a western with a black cast and the movie uses every cliche in the book as well as steals most of its storylines from previous westerns the what you are left with is a bland, unoriginal film. The only thing unique about it would be the color of its main cast and frankly that alone no longer makes a film a must-see for me any more. So I hope Spike, if the film is made, can truly make this movie compelling and groundbreaking. But like I said the original story from the novel itself isn't all that great.
I hope this film would be a good one. Besides,the IR relations of Italian women and Black US Soldiers are legendary.
I am glad Spike Lee is going to do this film. We americans need to stop being ignorant of our own history. Its time to have not just entertainment, also education.
