Während die Schrecken des Ersten Weltkriegs über ihnen prangern, begeben sich die beiden jungen Männer Lionel (Paul Mescal) und David (Josh O’Connor) auf eine Reise durch das ländliche Neuengland, um die Stimmen und Volkslieder ihrer amerikanischen Landsleute aufzunehmen. Was als ethnografisches Projekt beginnt, entwickelt sich zu einer tiefgreifenden emotionalen Verbindung zwischen den beiden. Auf ihrer gemeinsamen Reise erkunden die beiden Identität, Liebe und die persönlichen und gesellschaftlichen Nachwirkungen des Krieges.

ENGLISH:

Following his 2022 Kurosawa Akira remake LIVING, Oliver Hermanus now joins with writer Ben Shattuck to produce a portrait of two men whose shared love for American folk music becomes a conduit for their intimacy. Lionel (Paul Mescal), a young man from rural Kentucky, leaves his family farm and heads north to attend Boston Conservatory, where he meets David (Josh O’Connor), a fellow music student, just before the outbreak of World War I. When David returns from the war, he invites Lionel to join him on a trip through rural Maine, collecting songs on wax phonograph cylinders. Their emotional bond is complicated both by David’s battle trauma and their somewhat different perspectives on the cultural ethics of ethnomusicology. The two men drift apart. Years later, even after he has attempted to move on, Lionel remains haunted by their brief relationship. As one might expect given the subject matter, Hermanus employs an all-enveloping soundscape, with forlorn silences broken by the piercing cries of traditional song. THE HISTORY OF SOUND is a sepia-toned memory piece that considers the pull between expression and intellection, what comes naturally and what must be fought for. (Michael Sicinski, viennale)