U2: Rattle and Hum

Having become one of the biggest bands in the world with The Joshua Tree in 1987, U2 tour America with a camera crew. The film mixes concert footage with studio and road material; the concerts are in colour, everything between them in black and white. Phil Joanou directs. The best scenes are the ones that touch American music history. The band records at Sun Studio in Memphis. A gospel choir in Harlem sings I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. B. B. King records When Love Comes to Town with them, and what King says to Bono about the lyrics is the most honest moment in the picture. The reviews on release were hard. U2's relationship to American roots was called self regarding, and read as a band installing itself in rock history. They took the reaction seriously. The next move was Achtung Baby: irony, electronics, and a stage identity built to dismantle their own solemnity. Without Rattle and Hum there is no such turn, and the band has said so themselves for years. Who it is for: U2 listeners and anyone curious about late eighties stadium rock culture. Who it is not for: viewers wanting a documentary. The film does not question the band. It works like a promotional piece that admires them.