U2
Rattle And Hum

THE REVIEW

The first time I watched this documentary film on an old VHS, I was shocked. I couldn't recover. I don't remember if it was because of Bono's sermons, Edge's "only" killer performance in "Bullet the Blue Sky", Larry Mullen's emotional story about his love for Elvis, or Adam Clayton's dynamism on stage. I really don't remember. But I do remember that from here I fell in love with them, their music, their CREDIBILITY, their energy, their atmospheres, and their mysticism.

They were U2, at the peak of their career, fresh from a "perfectly imperfect" album like "The Joshua Tree" and a triumphant tour in the States. The entire film focuses on this tour (the DVD version does significantly more justice to the work compared to the VHS). And since it's a film, we need to retrace its various stages.
First of all, "Rattle and Hum" aims to be the rediscovery of the roots, the origins of American music that, as candidly admitted by the entire band, was then an unexplored and unknown world. So you will see U2 as you have never seen them, in black and white to savor the live experience, intrigued by a man on the street playing the rhythmic blues of "Freedom For My People", amused in short interviews (well, U2 are not as serious as Coldplay, eh!), more involved than ever in duetting with B.B. King.

Here, there are no individual episodes, but a unique episode and experience. How can one not be overwhelmed by the superb "Helter Skelter" ("This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles. We're stealing it back," Bono starts) or fascinated by Edge solo in "Van Diemen's Land", all surrounded by images flying over the ocean only to settle on the Dublin studios. You will find U2 grappling with a gospel choir from a church in Harlem for the reimagination of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".
There will be a visit to Graceland, in Elvis's house with an extremely emotional Larry Mullen managing to get photographed on one of the "King’s" Harleys to the notes of "Heartland". A rush of adrenaline will run through your body at the start of the renowned "All Along The Watchtower". On "Bad" there's Bono's classic closing citations dedicated to the Stones with "Ruby Tuesday" and "Sympathy For The Devil". Van Morrison is honored with "Gloria" and Hendrix with "The Star Spangled Banner" introducing the ever more cruel and evil "Bullet the Blue Sky". It transitions into color with "Where The Streets Have No Name", the true emotional pinnacle of the film, and the finale flows intense and fast with other, precious, gems. "MLK", "With or Without You", the already mentioned "Bullet The Blue Sky", and the moving "Running To Stand Still" are the prelude to the apotheosis: "Sunday Bloody Sunday" starts surprisingly subdued, with only Edge's guitar accompanying a worn-out Bono after the bomb attack on November 8, 1987, in Enniskillen. But before Edge's marble-carved solo, there's the lightning entrance of Larry and Adam who seem to want to scream out their pain, their anger. And then "Pride" represents the fitting epilogue for a true masterpiece, understood as a confluence between audiovisual language and emotional language.
All that's missing are the closing credits, and a more fitting choice than the unreleased "All I Want Is You" couldn’t have been made. In the end, it feels like being there with them, whether it be arenas, studios, streets, bridges, or the Mississippi, it doesn't matter. For almost two hours, we're there laughing with Larry's imitations, crying, and becoming emotional. Because that's what I felt and will continue to feel always.

"How long, how long must we sing this song"