U2 frontman Bono is recounting his life and career in the new concert doc Bono: Stories of Surrender. After unveiling his memoir of the same name in 2022 (and a new truncated paperback version last month), Bono took his “book tour” on the road. As only Bono can, he turned his book tour into a one-man show, performing excerpts from his book and snippets of U2 songs while backed by a quartet. Cameras captured a 2023 New York stop of his touring production to bring the show to audiences around the world, now streaming on Apple TV+.
For many music lovers and even U2 fans, Bono can be a polarizing figure. His swagger and personality can often eclipse the band and the music, even when he’s acting with the best intentions and using his platform to bring awareness to important issues. Here, in Stories of Surrender, his main character energy dominates the screen.
Bono recounts his childhood, including the death of his mother, Iris, at his grandfather’s funeral, the constant vying for his father Bob’s love, and meeting the two loves of his life–wife Ali and his U2 bandmates–in the same week in high school. These stories are quite familiar to any U2 fan. He performs excerpts lifted straight out of the book, often verbatim, which does create a full-blown sensory book reading experience.
As in the stage show, his messy handwriting appears on screen, punctuating his tales. Empty chairs sub in for band members The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., and Adam Clayton, and his father as he weaves his tales. After all, Bono is first and foremost a showman. He commands the crowd from his pulpit on stage. While that may work in the intimate theatres of his book tour and Las Vegas’ Sphere, it doesn’t quite translate to director Andrew Dominik’s film with the same impact.
Premiering at Cannes, where it received a seven-minute ovation, the beautifully-shot black and white Stories of Surrender is a no-frills production by U2 standards. There is no giant lemon or spaceship stage because Bono doesn’t need that. Focusing on his relationship with his father, his love of classical music, and his formative moments, those seeking tidbits and stories about life on the road with the band, performing from the world’s biggest stages and rubbing elbows with stars will be left disappointed.
As a decades-long U2 fan who has seen the band more times than I can count, the energy and vibrancy of Bono’s live performance of Stories of Surrender is missing in this recorded version. Perhaps to understand and love U2 is to be in the room to see Bono work his magic. It is unlike anything or anyone else performing music today. For fans wishing to recapture some of that live experience, Stories of Surrender feels like a bit of an empty shell. There is just some element missing in this film version. But, with a book tour that only included a single Canadian date in Toronto, this version is the only way for most fans to get to see and hear Bono’s stories in this format.
What is not missing are U2 songs. Reimagined and shortened versions of “Vertigo”, “Beautiful Day”, “I Will Follow”, “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and more are peppered throughout the performance. They are used to punctuate his story of surrender. Lyrics from “Desire” mark his relationship with Ali, while “Out of Control” paints a picture of his youth, and U2’s Pavarotti collab “Miss Sarajevo” echoes through his only real celeb tale (complete with an Italian accent).
There is a nice throughline to Anton Corbijn’s excellent 1988 black and white U2 documentary Rattle & Hum through some stylistic choices, and various nods to other stories that Bono has told over the years. It’s hard to imagine anyone who isn’t already a U2 fan finding connection and entertainment from Stories of Surrender, but those who do will be rewarded and reminded of what exactly makes Bono the frontman of one of the world’s biggest rock bands.
