Sara Michelle Fetters: It seems you did miss the point of the miracle. Hector's life was spared to dole justice to Rudolpho, the traitor of St Anna. Angelo (meaning "Boy Angel", for goodness' sake!) was spared as a child to save Hector forty years later (remember: "If a man commits a sin, can he ever be redeemed?") Please also note that Angelo became as successful as he needed to become (to be able to afford to save Hector) by inventing safety devices that would have saved millions of lives over four decades. Hector was the "Sleeping Man" of the region's folklore because he avenged those he could not protect.

All other Spike Lee joints have left me cold because… well, they are terribly self-indulgent cinematic masturbation for the unnecessarily angry Mr. Lee. Miracle at St. Anna however, was his first good movie because it was primarily about goodness and justice.

Spike Lee will never make a great movie, nor probably another good movie, because he is too bitter, self-absorbed, and preachy, but Miracle at St. Anna was his masterpiece. I hope this helped you to understand.