By Matthew Moorcroft

Weak Recommendation

• Directed by Oliver Hermanus
• Starring Paul Mescal, Josh O’Connor, Molly Price, Chris Cooper
• R

For a movie about the notions of sound and how it surrounds us almost constantly, The History of Sound is achingly quiet. Nobody really speaks above a whisper, and when they do it’s less about the things they do say and the things that they don’t. It makes sense though, as it is just after World War I and it’s basically impossible for our two leads to actually be together. It just isn’t meant to be. The only things that are loud is the sadness in the heart of our lead – Lionel – and the music he is trying to record and preserve for future generations to listen to.

And yet, it all feels a little perfunctory doesn’t it? Despite it’s good intentions and it’s clearly lovingly photographed – if purposefully muted – scenery, The History of Sound is mostly willing to retread ground having been told better in other films. It’s clearly made with adoration and care, but it’s central romance is so muted and it’s general pace so lax and void of progression it’s easy to find that the film itself is getting lost and needs to be put back on track so to speak.

None of this is the fault of Paul Mescal or Josh O’Connor, who both continue to prove their worth as some of our best working actors. Their chemistry is admittedly palpable in the moments they are able to shine, and in an early strong sequence the two of them bounce off each other playfully in a way that promises a stronger, more focused film that what we inevitably get. Mescal in particular has to do much of the lifting himself once O’Connor rapidly leaves the picture in it’s second half, which he manages to do in spite of otherwise confused material.

It’s really a shame then that The History of Sound seems to confuse quiet and contemplative with meandering and unfocused, as so much of The History of Sound feels like it’s restarting multiple times in a desperate attempt to try and find some kind of thesis. While the idea of telling the entire life story of a fictional character as if they were a real person is an ambitious one, which The History of Sound is most certainly attempting to do here, it lands with a bit of a thud as several sections of this feel like fluff or trying to bide time until the next reveal as to hit.

This mostly really affects that main relationship first and foremost, which almost becomes a background note in it’s own movie until it needs to be important again for the brief moments it does decide to rear it’s head in. Sure, it’s a good melancholic queer romance, and we all love those, but if you are going to do it, commit to it. Instead, The History of Sound dances around it and never goes as far as it really should. It really wants to be about the tragedy of being queer in this time period – silent as the people they are recording – but when half of your film lacks that relationship and there is two other romances that pop in the second half that are equally as underdeveloped it’s difficult to tell to what end this is all for.

It’s funny then that, ultimately, the stuff The History of Sound ends up being slightly more engaging for is everything about it’s musical history. The folk music, the community built around it, and the preservation of voices that would have otherwise have been lost to time if not for the efforts of our leads to try and make sure somebody, anybody hears them. It’s a powerful notion, and the film’s conclusion – easily the film at it’s strongest – finds the idea that by preserving voices at large we can tap into levels of human connection that would otherwise be impossible.

I wish The History of Sound was better. Hell, it should be better. Oliver Hermanus is not a hack of a director, having told queer stories in the past with panache and a fearlessness in films like Beauty and Moffie, and the restrained quiet of the picture as well as it’s beautiful visuals are signs of that and worthy of a level of respect. It’s really all at the script level that The History of Sound suffers, and proof that you really do need more nice scenery and hot actors to make something truly compelling in the long term. An unfournate disappointment.