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.

Frequent Lee collaborator Terence Blanchard composed the score, and the visual effects were created by Industrial Light & Magic.

In 1983, Hector Negron, an aged, African American World War II veteran, works as a post office clerk in New York City.

Several hours later, rookie reporter Tim Boyle and Detective Tony Ricci are at the crime scene seeking information.

Also found is a Purple Heart and a photograph revealing that Negron was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star.

Negron, in a flashback, tells of his war experiences as a young corporal of the segregated 92nd Infantry Division in Italy, late 1944 during the Gothic line phase of the Italian campaign.

Earlier, residents of the nearby village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema were killed by German forces following a betrayal by an Italian partisan, named Rodolfo, who knows that Brundt can identify him as the traitor.

After concealing the fact that German forces are approaching the village in a counterattack, Rodolfo kills Brundt and the Partisan leader before escaping.

Negron is brought to the Bahamas and is reunited with the Head of the Primavera, accompanied by its new owner who takes out a rosary and reveals himself as an adult Angelo.

Other cast members include John Leguizamo, in a cameo appearance, as Enrico; D. B. Sweeney as Colonel Jack Driscoll, an advocate for the Buffalo Soldiers; Robert John Burke as General Ned Almond, a high-ranking officer who opposes the 92nd Division; Omari Hardwick as Platoon Commander Huggs; Omero Antonutti as Ludovico Salducci, Renata's Fascist father; Sergio Albelli as Rodolfo Berelli, a Partisan of questionable loyalties; Lydia Biondi as Natalina, a village healer; Michael K. Williams as Tucker, a scared soldier; Walton Goggins as Captain Nokes; Christian Berkel as Captain Eichholz; Colman Domingo as a West Indian postal customer; Jan Pohl as Corporal Hans Brundt, the German deserter; and Alexandra Maria Lara as Mildred Gillars, nicknamed Axis Sally, an American broadcaster employed by the Germans as a propagandist.

[1]: 2 and 23 The novel Miracle at St. Anna was written by James McBride originating from his late uncle's experiences as a World War II soldier.

[1] : 18  Upon writing the novel, McBride conducted his own research and learned of the 92nd Infantry Division, which consisted of 15,000 African-American soldiers, who served in Italy during World War II from August 1944 to November 1945.

[1]: 18–19  Commenting on the difficult process of adapting his book into a screenplay, McBride stated, “As a novelist, you tend to think internally.

You have to get right to the muscle.”[1]: 20 The film adaptation of Miracle at St. Anna attracted the attention of Italian producers Roberto Cicutto and Luigi Musini, the co-founders of On My Own Produzioni Cinematografiche.

Lee described Miracle at St. Anna as an "ensemble piece"[1] : 20  and aimed for authenticity in his depiction of American and German soldiers battling in Italy.

[1]: 22  The actors portraying soldiers underwent a two-week boot camp, supervised by senior military advisor Billy Budd, a 15-year Royal Marine veteran who had served in the Falklands War.

[1]: 24 Principal photography for Miracle at St. Anna lasted nine weeks, beginning in October 2007[8] and concluding in December of that year;[9] filming took place in Italy, New York, Louisiana and The Bahamas.

[1]: 25  A scene that recreates the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre was shot where the atrocity took place; the massacre—in which over 500 villagers were murdered by German occupation forces—is re-enacted in the film.

[1]: 25  Libatique's solution was to collaborate with Lee, military advisor Billy Budd, and first assistant director Mike Ellis in creating storyboards to choreograph the scenes.

Production designer Tonino Zera was tasked with filling outdoor locations with greenery, rebuilding exteriors and constructing the interior of an Italian barn.

[2] Also contributing to the film's $1.4 million gross in international markets was Bolivia ($9,821), Brazil ($9,821), Lebanon ($3,184), Romania ($1,465), and the United Arab Emirates ($26,492).

[26] Todd McCarthy of Variety called the film "a clunky, poorly constructed drama designed to spotlight the little-remarked role of black American soldiers in World War II.

"[28] Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post wrote that the film was "overwrought, overproduced, overbusy and overlong" and that "Miracle at St. Anna finally suffers from the worst filmmaking sin of all: the failure of trust, in the story and the audience.

"[29] Claudia Puig of USA Today wrote that the film "aspires to be epic, but mostly it's just unfocused, sprawling and badly in need of editing" and that "[i]t tries hard to be inspiring, but it has jarring tonal shifts, stereotyped characters and a lack of narrative perspective.

"[30] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone described the film as "too long, lazily constructed, and crammed with too many characters and subplots for any director to develop fully outside of an HBO miniseries.

"[32] James Verniere of the Boston Herald awarded the film an "A" grade, calling it a "masterpiece" and a "classic American WWII movie that both acknowledges the rousing tradition of such war epics as The Longest Day (1962) and The Big Red One (1980) and adds something new: paying tribute to the World War II African-American soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

[33] Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, criticized the editing but praised the film overall, describing it as "epic" with "one of the best battle scenes I can remember, on par with Saving Private Ryan...Miracle at St. Anna contains richness, anger, history, sentiment, fantasy, reality, violence and life.

This runs directly counter to the accepted historical version of events, ruled by an Italian military court in 2005, that the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre was entirely premeditated by the Germans with no reason except the aim to frighten the population.

[35] Giovanni Cipollini, deputy head of the National Association of the Italian Partisans, said the film was a "false reconstruction" and a "travesty of history".

[37] On June 21, 2011, a Paris court ruled in Lee and On My Own's favor, believing that TF1 failed to honor the contract, which proved "disastrous" for the film.