The History of Sound

Lionel (Paul Mescal) grew up on a farm in Kentucky and David (Josh O’Connor) is a wealthy orphan from Newport, Rhode Island. Both are serious students at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in 1917. They meet in a piano bar, where David moves Lionel with an American folk tune. The men share a passionate love for music and for each other. Spoon after, they set off with their backpacks along the coastline of Maine to record folk tunes for posterity. In this ‘Brokeback Mountain’ for a new generation, much remains unsaid. Oliver Hermanus’ understated but epic romance was nominated for the Palm d’Or and the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.