An Irish song in their hearts
How a new film came to cobble together U2, David Letterman and the modern Ireland
In 1982, Morgan Neville was a typical teenager, staying up to watch this new show, “Late Night With David Letterman,” and buying an album by an upand-coming band, U2. The following year, Neville went to the L.A. Sports Arena (without his parents, very exciting) to see U2's “War” tour.
Fast forward 40 years and Neville is living out his teenage dreams, having directed “Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, With Dave Letterman” for Disney+ (premiering today). The film explores the friendship and songwriting of U2's vocalist and guitarist while also setting Letterman loose on the streets of Dublin — at one point, after Letterman visits the city's famed 40-Foot Drop swimming area, The Edge even writes a song about that moment called “40 Foot Man” that the duo performs impromptu for the talk show host.
The subject was a natural fit for Neville. In his decorated documentary career, he has explored subjects ranging from Mr. Rogers to Anthony Bourdain but is best known for his music documentaries about the likes of Johnny Cash and Keith Richards, and the Oscar-winning “Twenty Feet from Stardom” about background singers.
Neville, who spoke recently by video about the project, is finishing up a Steve Martin documentary and starting one on Paul McCartney in the 1970s. “I'm in my 50s, but spending all my time on what I was into back when I was 14,” he says.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q
How did this collaboration come about?
A
It wasn't something I cooked up. Bono sent an email to Dave and said, “Hey, we want to talk about our songs and songwriting and we should do something together.” And that got handed to somebody who handed it to somebody who handed it to me.
I've done so many music documentaries that I generally don't look to do them anymore. It has to feel like, oh, I can do something new. And this was a new sandbox to tell a music story in a different way. It was an unusual peanut butter and chocolate kind of thing.
QThere's so much to cover here; how did you figure out what to focus on?
AI talked to Dave for a while at the beginning and he told me he'd never been to Ireland and I said, “I could see this being a `Dave goes to Ireland' adventure, where instead of him being a host, he's a guest. That worked better than I imagined.
With U2, I was thinking about three main things, starting with this amazing, almost 50-year relationship. Having made a lot of documentaries about bands, it is unheard of.
Second was their songwriting — they have such a huge sonic imprint that the songwriting can get lost. They wanted to strip things away to hear the songs in a less produced form. I was not a big fan of the studio version of “Invisible” so when they said they wanted to do it, I thought, “Really?” But when I heard it I said, “This is amazing. I didn't know there was this great song hiding in there.”
The third was Ireland — we had Dave on this adventure, exploring what Ireland meant to U2 and what their Irishness really means and how it comes out. Those were my pillars.
Having made more authoritative documentaries, this project felt more like a sketch; it was not trying to be the definitive U2 documentary.
When you're liberated from being authoritative you can go where you want. We just decided to go with whatever's interesting and wherever the conversation goes.
That felt liberating. The only other time I did that was the film I did with Keith Richards. You say, “Don't worry about it” and just let it be engaging and have momentum.
QThe film digresses to talk about Irish politics and the Troubles, but also about shifting positions on issues like gay marriage in a Catholic country. What made you go down those roads and how did you find the drag performer, Panti Bliss, to discuss what U2 meant to her?
AWhen I first talked to Bono and the Edge, their request was, “Please don't make this feel like a film for the Irish Tourist Board.” There's a trope that Ireland is quaint and oldtimey and their point is that Ireland has gone through this incredible change and modernization. U2 is both reflective of that change and at times a reason for that change.
My producer, Seamus Murphy Mitchell, is from Dublin and said, “I know the people to talk to” to show the Ireland that everyone there knows exists but that people outside of it don't really know.
QDoes it feel like cheating knowing you can always cut to a song like “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “Bad” or “Where the Streets Have No Name”?
AMusic films always feel like cheating — there's already a relationship viewers have with the music; there's power and emotion and there's a story. But that's especially with U2. If you're starting with this incredible music, you're almost halfway there. My job is to not get in the way. One thing I've learned is to let the artists' songs tell their story.
QAs a lifelong fan, did you have to fight your own personal biases for the sake of the storytelling?
AI was a big “Unforgettable Fire” fan with the dreamy Brian Eno stuff, and I loved the song “A Sort of Homecoming” so I wanted to name it that, so that was my own personal bias. But I loved “Achtung Baby” and we didn't go into that because it is not the Ireland part of their story. It's the expat part.
QLetterman seems really touched by the affection he receives there and by that song “40 Foot Man” — he even goes in the water at the end. How much were you thinking about revealing things about him, as opposed to Bono and the Edge?
AHe's a fascinating character, too. In the beginning, I said to Bono and the Edge, “Feel free to ask Dave questions.”
We shot the whole thing in December and when we were editing, Bono called me and said, “We're going to actually finish `40 Foot Man' and send it to you for the closing credits or whatever.”
When I told Dave, he said, “I need to go into the water.” He knew that was the ending this was calling for. It was his idea. He said, “I'm going to fly back to Ireland, jump in the water and then fly home.” And he did.