Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor’s gay romance is ‘too polite’

The drama of this era, premiere at Cannes, two of Hollywood’s most hanging out male actors play lovers who make music together, but the film can be done with far more passion and urgency.

Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain was released 20 years ago, but there hasn’t been a drama for a while since then about same-sex romance. In a sense, sound history must be counted as a bold project. It is an expensive Hollywood film in which two of the most talked about male actors in the film are cast as gay enthusiasts. But the subject aside, it’s a bizarre, traditional piece. If you’ve never heard of its stars, Paul Mezcal and Josh O’Connor, you can easily mistake it for a long-lost film made by seller ivory impersonation in the 1980s or 90s.

Mezcal plays Lionel, a Kentucky farm boy who was raised in a shed in the early 20th century. In addition to having perfect pitch, Lionel is likely to have an incredible singing voice. And while Mezcal’s song doesn’t sound better than anyone else in the film, the character’s talent is enough to win him at the Boston Conservatory. This is just one of many advances that come to him incredibly easily.

Just as simple as that, the shy Lionel falls into a relationship with the confident David (O’Connor), an Arch, a composition student with a taste of folk music. Their problem-free romance continues until David is drafted to fight in World War I, and Lionel must return to his family farm. However, in 1919 (the dates are all on the screen, so you won’t get lost), David invites Lionel to go on a field trip with him, where he has collected songs. The pair roams the scenic countryside for several weeks, recording fork ballads with wax cylinders and sleeping under the canvas.

Still, this blissful camping holiday won’t last forever, so Lionel will have to decide what to do in the next few years. Do you want to settle down with David at a minor college? Move to Europe. Or take over the farm from his old man.

To be honest, all three options seem pretty envious. Directed by Oliver Hermanus, maker of Moffie and Living, the history of sound is one of the dramas of an era that is so beautiful, even when every house is lining, all the costumes are perfectly tailored and rich in colours. Don’t worry about his song, Lionel’s most impressive gift seems to be his ability to find the ideal suit and tie combination for any occasion.

Aesthetics aside, life goes too smoothly for him for a film to seize his heart with all his strength. Lionel may question his feelings for David, but he never appears to be ruffled. Mezcal and O’Connor are subtle and charismatic, and it is surprising that Irish and British actors should play the most of these roles perfectly, but the history of sound does not probe under the charming surface of a star-crossed lover.

It records life slowly and steadily until the 1920s, but there is no urgency until it looks like the final scene, but then there are a few more scenes, all of which seem to be the final scene. The script by Ben Shattuck is adapted from his own short stories, but with its laidback pace and multiple endings, the film feels longer than its two-hour run time.

It is left in a melancholy ballad of broken heart and sadness, offering the inspiring emotions that are lacking elsewhere. In the most romantic sequence, Lionel and David walk through the woods and are in exquisite harmony without preparation, so it’s a shame that much of this polite and refined film lacks such a song. Ironically, Lionel is giving a speech about why he loves folk music. Because it’s enthusiastic, raw and messy. Sound history is not one of them.