Spike Lee has recently been very outspoken against Clint
Eastwood regarding the lack of African-American characters in his WW II films
concerning the battle of Iwo Jima and now, ironically, the wheel has turned and
Lee is being accused by a major Italian-American group of similar prejudices.
The Italic Institute of America has spoken out against
director Spike Lee’s portrayal of Italians in his films, in an ironic twist
considering Lee’s recent battle of words with Hollywood
veteran Clint Eastwood.
The dispute started last month, during the 61st edition of
the Cannes Film Festival, when Lee told reporters that Eastwood had not done
justice to African-American soldiers in his two films “Flags of Our Fathers”
and “Letters from Iwo Jima,” by excluding
them.
Lee complained that “not one Negro actor” appeared on
screen, despite having the two historical films run for more than four hours, and
concluded that, “in his version of Iwo Jima,
Negro soldiers did not exist.”
Eastwood responded days later, in an interview with The
Guardian, that he had been historically accurate and that African-American
soldiers did not raise the flag. “The story is Flags of Our Fathers, the famous
flag-raising picture, and they didn’t do that. It’s not accurate.”
Unfortunately, the whole thing degenerated into a battle of
words, with Eastwood saying Lee should “shut his face” and the latter snapping
back that the “Dirty Harry” star “is not my father and we’re not on a
plantation” and that he “sounds like an angry old man.”
The most recent ingredient added to the messy discussion is a
comment from Bill Dal Cerro, president of the Italic Institute of America, who
says Lee “is very talented but I sometimes wish he’d practice what he
preaches,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The institute has made similar comments before, criticizing
Lee for his portrayal of Italian-Americans in “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle
Fever.”
Lee was in Cannes promoting
his upcoming project, “Miracle at St. Anna,” a World War II film that focuses
on a black US
army division. It is precisely this film that now worries the institute, as the
action is set in Italy.
“His points about African-Americans are well taken, but,
ironically, he does the same thing to Italians in his films,” Dal Cerro said.
