Written by Ben Shattuck
Directed by Oliver Hermanus
Lionel (to David): "Write. Send chocolate. Don't die."
I really do hate staggered releases for movies. This was released in US theatres back in September, popped up on Mubi this month but UK/Irish audiences have to wait until January 23rd to see it. I decided that I wasn't waiting that long.
Based on a short story by the writer of this movie, we had a lovely story between two men and because it's not a contemporary one, it fell into the realms of tragedy. One died, one survived, both tried to live heterosexual lives and so on. You get the gist.
Our main character would be Lionel Worthing (Paul Mescal). He had an unique relationship with music and sound and his love for both put him in the cross hairs of fellow music student, David White (Josh O'Connor). It didn't take the pair long to bond over their love of music and their physical attraction to one another either.
In fact we got a nice period of time where the two enjoyed collaborating both musically and sexually before David got called to war and Lionel returned to help his parents (Molly Price and Raphael Sbarge) before his father died. Lionel's relationship with his mother seemed more testing than the ones he had with his father and grandfather respectively.
Of course the best part of the two of the movie was Lionel and David reuniting. The latter needed the former to go to places to meet people and record songs. This plot introduced characters like Thankful Mary Swain (Briana Middleton) but it also highlighted the gap between Lionel and David as well.
The second half of the movie separated the pair with Lionel having furthered his music career in both Rome and Oxford and even being engaged to Clarissa Roux (Emma Canning). Fortunately it was an engagement that didn't last as Lionel did the right thing and ended it with her.
As for David, he married a woman named Belle Sinclair (Hadley Robinson) but killed himself due to shell shock from the war. Belle knew about Lionel and David and she made sure that the former knew as well before he took a visit to the Lake District.
The end of the movie then focused on an older Lionel (Chris Cooper) promoting his latest book on radio and being reunited with the cylinder's of his time with David. David's last recording in particular did end this movie on a rather poignant note.
- This movie marked Paul Mescal taking on an executive producer role. It's very much his film to be fair.
- I found the spitting scene with Lionel and David funny more than anything else. At least we got a few sex and kissing scenes between the two of them.
- Standout music: For it's sheer significance, the use of Silver Dagger as sung by Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor at different points in the film.
- Chronology: 1910 to 1980, taking in places such as Kentucky, Boston, Maine, Rome, Oxford and the Lake District.
I can see why The History Of Sound might feel like a disappointment but for the most part, I did like it. There's a few tropes that I do think gay cinema, especially historical ones do need to move away from. Saying that, both Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor did help to elevate the material and gave their all here.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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