Three generations of rock guitar gods in ‘It Might Get Loud’

Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page star in new film

The film reminds us that Edge and U2 began their journey when he was still a 17-year-old schoolboy, so he’s been both an apprentice and a master of his craft all his adult life.

As each guitarist talks individually about his group, a sort of rock summit is finally arranged between the three men. This takes some doing -- being in three legendary rock bands makes scheduling a sit down chat a nightmare, but Guggenheim always gets his man.

“It Might Get Loud” surprises because it successfully attempts to get inside the heads of its subjects and discover what makes them tick. To do this Guggenheim takes them to places that have special memories.

In the case of the Edge, the director takes him to the Temple Mount High School classroom in Dublin where he and U2 first met and rehearsed when they were 16 and 17 years old (it’s a scene that’s worth the price of admission alone).

“We used to spend the first 10 minutes just clearing away all the desks before we could even begin to play,” the Edge recalls with a wry smile.

Although the three guitarists are clearly admirers of each other’s work they also hail from vastly different generations and backgrounds, and sometimes the musical tastes and sensibilities of their individual eras creates lines in the sand that they will not cross.

But in “It Might Get Loud” it’s the riff and cords that bring them together that keep winning over in the end. At the beginning of the film the three men are awkward in each other’s presence, fumbling to find common interests, and things to talk about.

But then Page finally picks up a guitar and plays the thunderous riff from Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” and the film and their journey kicks in.

“It Might Get Loud” opens in New York and Los Angles on Friday, August 14.

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Nster.com