They Left With Their Answer: Rattle And Hum.

By Brendan Kinney

“This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles; we’re stealin’ it back.” Bono announces as U2 opens Rattle and Hum with “Helter Skelter,” setting a bold and dramatic tone for the rest of the film.

The movie’s highlights include collaborations with the Harlem Choir in a gospel rendition of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and with B.B. King on “When Love Comes To Town.” Nearly all of the concert footage is exciting and powerful. The most dramatic performance is the last ‘set,’ in which Bono makes a speech against the terrorism in Ireland and the Irish Revolution, finally crying out, “Fuck the revolution! It’s just another Sunday Bloody Sunday…” after which an emotional version of that song pounds out of the speakers. On to “Pride,” a tribute to Martin Luther King. Next “Bullet The Blue Sky,” during which Bono grabs a spotlight and plays around with it, shining the beam on The Edge during his guitar solo.

However, you can only watch any given band concert footage for so long without getting a little restless.

When the movie ended, I found myself unsure of how well I enjoyed the movie, but overall I found I liked it. But I wonder where Bono gets off thinking he can spray graffiti on public monuments?

U2 seems to be creating for themselves a Beatles-like impression, and Rattle and Hum whispers “White Album” at the audience with interviews reminiscent of the Beatles off-the-cuff wit and childlike playfulness.

As Adam Clayton, U2’s bass player, sits at a bar and puffs on a smoke, he points out where U2 is coming from: “Some people say you shouldn’t mix politics and music…or you shouldn’t mix politics and sports…or you shouldn’t mix politics with anything…I think that’s a bunch of bullshit.”