The History Of Sound film review: A thwarted prospect
With two great actors at its disposal, this tale of heartbreak and music should have hit home harder
A forbidden romance and a passion for song fuel this film from South African director Oliver Hermanus (Living), pairing men of the moment Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor. Based on Ben Shattuck’s short stories and with a screenplay from Shattuck himself, The History Of Sound is the fictional tale of two folk song enthusiasts, unearthing musical gems in early 20th-century America.
Mescal plays Lionel Worthing, a talented singer from a poor, farming background who we are told at the outset can ‘see’ music. When he wins a scholarship to the New England Conservatory Of Music in Boston, Lionel meets fellow student David White (O’Connor), a man with a phenomenal memory for music, who has been collecting songs since childhood. The men bond instantly and begin sleeping together, before David is drafted during World War I. Afterwards, Lionel is asked by David to accompany him on a trip across rural Maine to record folk songs on wax cylinders, while later, Lionel travels to Europe as his career takes off.
Despite its potential on paper, The History Of Sound is somewhat lacking in imagination, with Hermanus failing to find an interesting way to capture Lionel’s ability to visualise sound, a surprise after the aesthetically impressive Living. Yet there’s poignancy in the men’s unspoken affection and in the simple pleasures of learning and sharing songs, beautifully conveyed by Mescal and O’Connor.
The heartbreak of its thwarted male love affair takes the film into Brokeback Mountain territory, a tantalising prospect with these generational acting talents at the fore, but sadly that earth-shattering level of emotion is not what we’re looking at here. It’s a pleasant enough film about the preservation and passing down of culture but one that seems unlikely to linger in the collective consciousness.
The History Of Sound is in cinemas from Friday 23 January.