Title: U2 3D Release Date: 2008 Director: Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington
Bono, Larry, Adam and The Edge lived among us. On rare occasions, we caught a glimpse of them. Maybe a shadow, an outline. But wherever they walked, U2 left a big impression. We’ll tell our grandkids about these four gentle giants.
One of the stranger, more elliptical verses in the Bible comes in Genesis 6:4: “There were giants in the earth in those days.” Somehow I don’t think that refers to dinosaurs. But what does it mean? People were bigger then? They walked with more presence? Carried themselves differently? I never understood that verse until I saw U2 in 3-D.
The sheer magnitude of what they have accomplished overwhelmes me. How can four rather modest Irish gents galvanize an audience with such authority? How did four rich, spoiled rock stars remain grounded enough to stick together, to create something much larger than themselves? How can God raise up such unlikely prophets? Their career and back catalogue is a miracle we’ve all been privileged to witness.
I saw them in Atlanta during their Unforgetable Fire tour. They sang “Pride in the Name of the Love” on the same day they talked with Martin’s widow, Coretta Scott King. I saw them in Los Angeles during the Zoo TV tour. What an overwhelming audio visual experience. And yet the most memorable U2 show I have experienced occurred in a movie theater, watching them projected in 3-D.
The size, the scope, the intensity of their concerts comes alive in this cinematic breakthrough. I feared that the technology would prove distracting. Visions of plastic glasses with red and blue lenses danced in my head. But U2 3D is wholly unlike any three dimensional movie we’ve ever seen. The images are so tactile, the sound is so crisp, that it literally puts viewers onstage, bouncing with the band.
U2 3D documents a stadium show in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Vertigo Tour includes songs from “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” like “Sometimes You Can’t Make it on Your Own” and “Love and Peace or Else.” But the core of the concert is U2’s greatest hits. It is a “Thank You” to their fans, a literal valentine.
Congratulations to directors Catherine Owen and Mark Pellington for resisting the temptation to indulge in camera tricks. They trust the music to make its own provocative case. After the initial “wow” factor, I settled into my seat for a powerful musical experience. The editing is smooth, the use of fades and dissolves quite compelling. U2 3D effectively incorporates the visual elements from the stage show, especially the graphics and lighting. There are dramatic highlights that took my breathe away and reduced me to tears. U2 3D brings it all back home.
U2’s best songs still sound remarkably prescient. “Sunday Bloody Sunday’s” shouts of “How long?!” are unfortunately relevant today. “Bullet the Blue Sky” is all too apt for Iraq. Bono straps on a headband that urges us to “Coexist.” The cooperation of the Abraham faith traditions–Jews, Christians, Muslims–is more necessary than ever. If we refuse to build bridges, that headband will become a blindfold, an accomplice to terror. “Miss Sarajevo” rises as a tender ballad and a desperate prayer. U2 upholds the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a timely reminder to us all.
The latter half of the concert pulls out classics like “Where the Streets Have No Name”, “One,” and “With or Without You.” They sound more like heavenly visions, biblical psalms, with each passing year. Kudos to producer Sandy Climan and the 3ality team that put together this awesome fusion of sound and fury. It premieres at the Sundance Film Fest this weekend–then find it NEXT WEEK at an IMAX theater near you.
sunny. i'd be interested to know what leads you to that conclusion. I've listened to them a lot, from the start. what leads you to view them as 'dead'? say more
WOW! Words fail! Wow! I saw 'Heima' for the first time this week and thought THAT was the coolest combination of music and film ever and then my wife and I went to see U23D tonight. Freaking amazing!
Other than missing several of the really great songs the band played on that tour, it was more than I could possibly have hoped for. U2 is a great band. Bono is a great showman. Their last tour was such a powerful call for peace and justice AND add to that the mind blowing technology!! Wow!
p.s. and there was this bizarre Derridian psychedelic commentary on language, power and the media during 'The Fly' in the encore. Very cool.
Remembering your roots written by Detweiler , January 31, 2008
Cool comments, Drew. Perhaps because they all hail from Dublin and have all stayed together, they can repeatedly remind each other who they are and whose they are. U2 has always been a little community project no matter how big the stadium they were playing....
Staying Grounded? written by Drew de Jonge , January 21, 2008
Thanks for your amazing post Craig! I'm really looking forward to seeing this...
There is no doubt that in my mind U2 have created something far bigger than themselves...I like the Thought of "humble giants". In all the interviews I've ever read with Bono or other members of U2 they never seem to point at themselves, always upwards or at each other...
I think the thing that strikes me the hardest about this post, as Craig so elegantly points out, is the fact that U2 has been able to stay grounded. In a time where Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, and a slew of others have let the media rip them apart, U2 has found a way to use their humility and prestige to turn the tables on fame and use it as a vehicle for their message. In contemplating why that is, I'm drawn to Eric Kuiper's post a few weeks about the Sigur Ros Documentary Heima. In it, Eric spoke about how seeing where someone is from allows you to more fully understand who they are. In my opinion U2 have never lost where they came from. They have a very strong sense of self, and a very strong history. They formed as a group of poor kids in the bars of Dublin, and in some ways, it seems, have never lost that.
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