1.20.03 - Launch
U2 frontman Bono can add "Golden Globe winner" to his already impressive resume. The Irish performer presented a vignette on Gangs Of New York, and later in the evening scooped up a Golden Globe for U2's song "The Hands That Built America," from the movie's soundtrack.
Bono introduced the Gangs feature, and explained the movie's significance. "It took an Italian to make a movie about Irish people--that's great isn't it?" Bono said. "Like James Joyce took Dublin, Martin Scorsese (news) took New York City to be his muse. For pretty much his whole cinematic life, this city has been his subject. He wanted to know everything about his muse: her every avenue, her every dark corner, where and how she was born. Gangs Of New York is that story. How his muse came into the world: kicking and screaming, as it happens."
The singer-songwriter was so enthused about U2's Globe win that he must've forgotten he was on live TV; bandmate the Edge also pipes in to accept the award. "Ah, this is really, really f--king brilliant (crowd cheers)," Bono said. "Really, really great. And, you know, there's a lot of songs in films, and a couple of great songs, and a couple of U2 songs, but not often [do] the songs come out of the characters, and out of the story of the film. And this goes back to a conversation I had with Martin Scorsese over 10 years ago. It's really a very, very special night for our band. Would you say something, the Edge, please?"
The Edge responded, "Yes. The films of Martin Scorsese made a massive impact on us growing up in Dublin in the '70s. It's such a privilege to be a small part in one of his movies. Thank you so much!"
-- Steve Iervolino, New York
Copyright © 2003 Launch. All rights reserved.
U2Station.com on Facebook
U2Station.com on Flickr
Skip to top
U2 should consider just sticking to music. Movie critics they are not. The Gangs of New York was not about the Irish. It was about immigrants in the United States and only a small part of the story at that.