U2 - Rattle And Hum (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	U2 in all their glory, raw and gritty !
Disadvantages:	Interviews are not particularly helpful

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

HISTORY :

I was not actually a fan of U2 until I saw this documentary film on TV. I quite liked a few of their previous songs, after seeing U2 perform on 'THE TUBE', a music programme in the early 80s. Being married at the time to a U2 fan, meant that U2 was blasted out most days, and I finally got the message! From here I worked forward enjoying follow up releases, such as 'Achtung Baby' and 'Zooropa' and working back via 'The Joshua Tree' to the 'Unforgettable Fire', and 'War' etc.

INTRODUCTION:

U2 are an Irish rock band featuring four musicians now in their 40s.
Bono (Paul David Hewson) on vocals, rhythm guitar and harmonica
The Edge (David Howell Evans) on lead guitar, keyboards and backing vocals
Adam Clayton on bass guitar
And Larry Mullen Jnr on drums and occasionally, backing vocals

Formed in 1976, when a 14 year old Larry Mullen Jnr put a notice on the board at school asking for musicians to join a band.

U2 started to have success in the 1980s, and they haven't looked back since. Since the release of their album The Joshua Tree they have often been referred to as the biggest rock band in the world by both fans and critics. Their music is mostly self penned, with lyrics usually by Bono.

U2 are almost as well known for their humanitarian work as they are for their music. Bono is perhaps the best-known advocate for finding a cure for AIDS and helping those reduced to poverty in Africa. U2 are using their fame to help many charities, and give a voice to many a cause including Live aid, and more recently Live 8.

THE FILM:

Much of the material shown on the RATTLE AND HUM documentary (or rockumentary as it has been referred,) and appearing on the double album of the same name was recorded on and off stage on the Joshua Tree Tour, it was originally released to cinema and record stores in 1988. Video followed in 1989. It is said to be intended as a tribute to American music.

Filmed much in black and white, this seems to add to the impact of what a great band you are watching and continues until near the end, when you witness the film bursting into colour with a live performance that gives you a real indication of their appeal at the time.

Following U2 across America, see them exploring new influences, playing with the legendary BB King and travelling from Dublin to San Francisco, Graceland, through the streets of Harlem, I feel that this documentary shows that the band members take nothing for granted, and are making the most of having the time of their lives.

The songs are not about making the loudest noise, but getting the message across, or sharing feelings. The ballads are there if you look carefully, just a little disguised!

The snippets of interviews are not very enlightening, the band comes across as laughing at the whole thing, and this I feel, shows that they still have some way to realising that people are listening to every word they say. They still seem very young back in 1987.

I have not listed the exerts of other songs quoted in this film, as I feel they are mis-leading. A line or two however well known, does not constitute a song. Therefore the box will present you with one or two more song titles listed, but no extra songs.

THE MUSIC:

HELTER SKELTER (live) - Written by Lennon & McCartney, and introduced to the audience by a long-haired Bono as "This song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles, we're stealin' it back!" A strong and raw performance. Introducing you to the great atmosphere that is a U2 concert. Bono wearing his favoured clothes of this period - high waisted pinstriped britches with braces, waistcoat but no shirt, boots and the well loved cowboy hat, looking like someone out of an old western.

VAN DIEMANS LAND - A song about being sent away to this part of Australia, as was the practice in 1803 for criminals. With words written and sung by The Edge, this plays as the title credits roll. Views of cranes working at the docks, and then fading to show a studio, resembling a large empty warehouse with U2 assembled and playing, while The Edge finishes his song.

"It's a bitter pill I swallow here, to be rent from one so dear.
We fought for justice and not for gain, but the magistrate sent me away."

DESIRE - This is filmed at the same time as the previous song, with Bono straining his voice to belt out the lyrics, and finishing with a bit of the old harmonica. The camera work can make you dizzy, so be warned!

EXIT /GLORIA (live) - I never realised that this was the name of this song, it is filmed at McNichols Arena, Denver, California.

"So hands that build, can also pull down, the hands of love."

I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR - A short interview with The Edge, who explains the fact that music can get a bit stale, and the band had decided to visit a Harlem Gospel Church Choir, and try a combination arrangement of this U2 song. Bono starts singing and the choir join in, the younger female members seem very pleased to be part of a U2 film, and the choir go all out for results. Bono lets the choir take over, and their lead singers take it up in a very gospel tone. The band are clearly very pleased to be welcomed into the gospel community.

A walk along 125th Street, Harlem, New York City, and the band stops to watch and record a couple of street performers.

SILVER AND GOLD (live) - This song is introduced by Bono, as a song about lost faith in the peacemakers of the west, about white South Africa, and he mentions Artists against Apartheid. He goes on to ask the audience "Am I bugging you? Don't mean to bug you. OK Edge, play the blues." And The Edge plays on.

"The temperature is rising, the fever white hot, mister I ain't got nothing, but it's more than you've got
These chains no longer bind me, nor the shackles at my feet, outside are the prisoners inside the free (set them free)."

.A short photo shoot, and press questions for the band, as they introduce the next song as one of 5 they recorded in 5 hours in Sun Studios Memphis.

ANGEL OF HARLEM (demo) - Surrounded by black and white posters of Elvis Presley, U2 play into old fashioned mics, with a saxophone and trombone player (I think it's a trombone!).They create new material in the studio that has been a barbers and a store in recent years, this fairly small tiled room had lost none of the echoes of yesterday and they were proud of the results. The song is about Billie Holiday, a blues singer.

"Angel in devil's shoes, salvation in the blues
You never looked like an angel, Angel of Harlem."

ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER (live) - As live as it gets! From a parked tour bus at the Embarcadero Centre Concert, San Francisco, California, we see the band squeezed in, discussing the performance they are about to give. A 60 second discussion about a chord change and a few seconds rehearsal, then "That's close, gonna go?" and they jump out to screaming crowds filling the roads.

Hand held cameras filming and U2 singing Bob Dylans 'All Along The Watchtower', was an entertaining addition to this film. During which Bono breaks away to be directed to a ladder, where he climbs up to 'graffiti' the wall with the words ' Rock & Roll, Stops The Traffic' The crowds love it!

IN GOD'S COUNTRY (live) - A song played while we see the band come off the stage and have a quick break in their dressing room before returning. A quick discussion of different timing for various members to remember, and some instructions from drummer Larry, (whom I assumed just went along with everything) a wink in the camera from Bono, and off they went back to the stage.

"Desert sky, dream beneath the desert sky. The rivers run but soon run dry.
We need new dreams tonight. Desert rose, dreamed I saw a desert rose
Dress torn in ribbons and bows, Like a siren she calls (to me)."

WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN - This song is introduced at Tarrent County Arena, Ft Worth Texas, as one Bono wrote for BB King, when the legendary performer visited Dublin Ireland. It made me chuckle to hear 62 year old BB King say to Bono that he couldn't play chords, and usually gets someone else to do that! Bono replied that Edge would do that as there were probably only about two anyway! The song cuts from chatting to BB King, seeing U2 practice with BB King, and the performance with BB King and his Band. It is apparent on watching this that BB King plays by ear, and is rather good!

"When love comes to town I'm gonna jump that train, When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame.
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down, But I did what I did before love came to town."

HEARTLAND - Another view of the band relaxing sitting on a grassy slope at a harbour one evening. This fades away and we follow the camera into Gracelands, Memphis. Larry Mullen is interviewed at this point, he admits loving the movies that Elvis made, but says that although he loved visiting Gracelands, he wishes that Elvis had been buried somewhere he couldn't have gone. A short piece where Bono uses the 'irish charm' to get round the tour guide, to allow Larry to sit on the Harley motorbike, and a sneaky pic is captured.

"Mississippi and the cotton wool heat, Sixty-six - a highway speaks
Of deserts dry, Of cool green valleys,
Gold and silver veins, all the shining cities, In this heartland."

BAD - A shirtless Bono, dripping with sweat, sings this really strong song. It has a slow build up. I love this song, it was originally on the 'Unforgettable Fire' album.

"If you twist and turn away, if you tear yourself in two again.
If I could, yes I would, if I could, I would let it go. Surrender, dislocate."

WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME (live) - This is the song that starts with the outdoor stage at the Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona. It is silhouetted against a red background, the Band can be seen to go to their instruments, and then The Edge begins his guitar rift. Blue lights and smoke flicker, and the audience have their lighters out, then suddenly the complete stadium is lit, filmed from the air, circulating the stadium, you can see all of the audience, and I wish I had been there too! You can feel the adrenalin flowing in the band members as they strut about the stage. Anyone watching this must see the stage presence that his band have.

"I wanna run, I want to hide, I wanna tear down the walls that hold me inside.
I wanna reach out, and touch the flame, where the streets have no name."

MLK (live) - A short solo by Bono, about Martin Luther King, a breeze in the night air, and some video shown of the great MLK speaking, and it dies away to go into another excellent performance.

"Sleep, sleep tonight, and may your dreams be realised.
If the thunder cloud passes rain, so let it rain, rain down on he. So let it be."

WITH OR WITHOUT YOU (live) - Played as per usual around this era, with the extra verse known to the fans as 'Shine Like Stars'. It is not on the studio version. This is another of my favourite songs.

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER/ BULLET THE BLUE SKY (live) - This song is memorable for the lighting, particularly the searchlights that are pointing directly down, the hand held spotlight and music, sounding like helicopter engines coming very close. This is a very powerful American themed song.
"Suit and tie comes up to me, his face red like a rose on a thorn bush,
Like all the colours of a royal flush, and he's peeling off those dollar bills
(Slappin'em down), One hundred, two hundred."

RUNNING TO STAND STILL (live) - With The Edge on the keyboards, and the crowd singing along, Bono sings about a drug user, seeking escape. The drum build up creates an air of urgency.

"Sweet the sin, bitter the taste in my mouth. I see seven towers, but I only see one way out.
You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice.
You know I took the poison, from the poison stream, then I floated out of here,"

SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY (live) - Back into black and white footage. Written originally for Bloody Sunday 1920 and Bloody Sunday 1972, in Irelands history. Sung on this occasion, in response to the Enniskillen Massacre when the IRA bombed a Remembrance Day parade earlier that day, on 8th November 1987. 11 civilians were killed and 63 injured. It shows a now famous version of the song, with Bono's mid-song angry rant, formally condemning the terrorist attack. His colourful, bold language leaves nothing unsaid. "Where's the glory in that?" He asks.

"I can't believe the news today, I can't close my eyes and make it go away.
How long, how long must we sing this song? How long, how long?
'Cos tonight, we can be as one, tonight."

PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) (live) - Another song for Martin Luther King, an excellent grand finale, grins on all the band members faces, and the crowd roaring. Bono invites the audience "For the Rev Martin Luther King - Sing" Wow!

"Early morning, April four, shot rings out in the Memphis sky.
Free at last, they took your life, they could not take your pride.
In the name of love, what more in the name of love.
In the name of love, what more in the name of love."

ALL I WANT IS YOU - I really like this song, It is played while a seemingly endless list of closing credits roll,

"You say you'll give me eyes in the moon of blindness,
A river in a time of dryness, a harbour in the tempest.
All the promises we make, from the cradle to the grave, when all I need is you."

CONCLUSION:

Watching this film again, I am happy to say it has lost none of the original appeal that I experienced back in the 80s. Seeing U2 perform with all the energy and stage presence that they command, it is good to know that they have gone on to become one of the most successful bands of all time.

OTHER INFORMATION:

Director Phil Joanou
Run time 98 minutes
Certificate 15
This DVD Can be bought at Amazon for £6.97
or Play.com for £9.99