Spike Lee Returns to World War II Hell

Spike Lee can’t get enough of World War II, and really, who can blame him? “The Miracle of St. Anna” was his most critically acclaim film in years. “Inside Man” was a commercial success, but no one was talking hardware for Spikey then, but they sure got to talking when it came to “Miracle”. I don’t think the diminutive wunderkind actually won anything, but hey, it’s nice to be talked about, right? Now Lee wants to take on another World War II story, to be based on a non-fiction book called “Now the Hell Will Start”. It’s about — drum roll, please! — a black soldier during the War who is the victim of racism. Gosh, didn’t see that coming at all. Anyhoo.

Reuters has more on the story:

[Brendan] Koerner, a contributing editor at Wired, tracks the story of Private Herman Perry, a black soldier from Washington who, after shooting another soldier, went on the run in the Indo-Burmese jungle and eventually became assimilated into tribal culture.

What are the chances that racist white soldiers show up to do racist stuff to our black hero, like hunt him down? I could be wrong, of course, but maybe we can get some hint from the book’s full title: “Now the Hell Will Start: One Soldier’s Flight from the Greatest Manhunt of World War II”.

Here’s more about the book from the publisher — WARNING: SPOILERS AHOY!

“Journalist Koerner recounts an obscure 1944 murder whose story is linked to the building of the Ledo Road, a massive and ultimately useless American project that linked India to Chinese forces. Most African- American soldiers spent WWII doing menial jobs. One man, Herman Perry, was shipped to northeast India to work on the Ledo Road. The labor was backbreaking; with rudimentary living conditions and no access to most recreation facilities, blacks had few pleasures besides drugs. Psychologically fragile, Perry had already been jailed for disobedience when he wandered off, carrying a rifle. When a white lieutenant grabbed it, Perry shot him and ran into the jungle, eventually reaching a village of Naga tribesmen. Pleased by gifts of canned food, they allowed him to stay, and he reinforced this welcome by stealing from the builders’ camp only six miles away. He married a local woman, but after three months, word of his presence filtered out; he was captured by Americans, tried and hung. Koerner’s engrossing story illuminates one of WWII’s fiascos as well as the disgraceful treatment of black soldiers during that era.”

Wow, didn’t see that coming. If Spike Lee ever made a movie without a racist white person in it, the world might just implode on itself.

Below: Spike Lee tries to explain to a confused Eddie Murphy how his girly white hat is really a weapon against racist white devils.