The $45 million film, based on the best-seller by James McBride, is set in the Tuscan countryside during World War II.

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The film also include a recounting of what Italians refer to as the "St. Anna Massacre," in which 560 civilians -- women, children and elderly men -- were slaughtered and then burned by German troops in retaliation for Italian partisan activities.

The veterans accuse Lee of changing history to suit his story, and they have demanded that that part of the story be removed or changed.

"It is a false cinematic reconstruction of events that ignores the real story and will leave an inaccurate impression," partisan veterans Moreno Costa, Enio Mancini and Giovanni Cipollini said in a statement released Tuesday. "The term 'cinematic license' should not mean that the truth can be ignored."