Movie Review: Paul Mescal, Josh O鈥機onnor collect folk songs in tender 鈥楾he History of Sound鈥
If the algorithm was overseeing casting for a tender, queer romance, it鈥檚 likely that at least one combination would involve Paul Mescal and Josh O鈥機onnor. They are two of Hollywood鈥檚 most promising next generation stars, and, not insignificantly, internet boyfriends who have captured the popular imagination on and off screen.
If the algorithm was overseeing casting for a tender, queer romance, it鈥檚 likely that at least one combination would involve Paul Mescal and Josh O鈥機onnor. They are two of Hollywood鈥檚 most promising next generation stars, and, not insignificantly, internet boyfriends who have captured the popular imagination on and off screen.
The new film 鈥淭he History of Sound鈥 does indeed find Mescal and O鈥機onnor in a romantic affair. But it is not remotely the stuff of meets fan fiction (thank goodness for that). It鈥檚 a silly thing to have to clarify, but posters, loglines, red carpet appearances and wild imaginations can sometimes give audiences a misleading idea about what a movie really is. In this case, 鈥淭he History of Sound鈥 is a lyrical meditation on fleeting first love and the questions that can follow and haunt for a lifetime.
Mescal is Lionel, a music prodigy from an impoverished Kentucky farm family whose talent lands him at the Boston Conservatory where, in 1917, he meets David (O鈥機onnor) who happens to be singing a folk song that reminds him of home. It’s a mystical kind of meet-cute, in which all sounds evaporate as Lionel floats over to this magnetic person. David, however, is from a different world than Lionel, the product of a wealthy Newport family stricken by tragedy and death. And yet despite all the losses around, he has an undeniable lightness to him and a charisma that Lionel, and most who meet him, find intoxicating. Despite their ivory tower surroundings, they鈥檙e both passionate about folk music. Though prewar America was not exactly a welcoming time for gay men, Lionel and David fall into an easy, intimate relationship, and the movie comes vibrantly, ever so briefly, to life.
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鈥淭he History of Sound,鈥 an adaptation of a short story by was directed by whose deliberately languorous pacing is admirably restrained but can also veer into tedium. Part of that is surely intentional as it鈥檚 a film about Lionel鈥檚 longing and searching in the absence of David, who is cruelly (for us and Lionel) gone for a large part of the movie.
The two reunite for a bit, in Maine, on a quest to record folk songs. They wander around, sleep in tents and Lionel is once again in heaven. But David has changed a bit, and most of the important things go frustratingly unsaid. Between the Conservatory and Maine, David served in the war, in the trenches, but can鈥檛 quite bring himself to talk meaningfully about it, resorting only to the quips he has always relied on: 鈥淚t was boring.鈥
Not long after, they鈥檙e separated again, and the camera keeps us stubbornly with Lionel who finds himself in some of the most beautiful places in the world, singing in a choir in Rome, or on a weekend away at his girlfriend鈥檚 family鈥檚 Downton-esque estate in England. And yet all he yearns for is to be in that tent, in Maine, with David by his side.
At its core, 鈥淭he History of Sound鈥 a memory piece, narrated by Chris Cooper, who plays an older Lionel still trying to make sense of it all. The filmmakers have said it鈥檚 about the idea that your first love is your greatest love, which is a thought so unspeakably sad that it seems only fitting for a folk song. Add to that a generation of men destroyed by war, and the repression of the time and it鈥檚 enough to make you crumble under the weight of it all.
The film, which runs over two hours, is building to a profound conclusion, a payoff for all the slow-paced and melancholy moments that preceded it. But it requires definite patience from its audience that it doesn鈥檛 necessarily earn just by existing. There鈥檚 a lot of talk about what makes folk songs great, that they鈥檙e the most 鈥渨arm-blooded pieces of music鈥 and are the songs of real people, not gods. Lionel explains at one point that they are 鈥渕essy, human experiences,鈥 鈥渆motion in song,鈥 鈥渘othing fancy.鈥
鈥淭he History of Sound鈥 does not feel like a folk song, however, just the inspiration for one.
鈥淭he History of Sound,鈥 a Mubi release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for 鈥渟ome sexuality.鈥 Running time: 127 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
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