^{Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor in Oliver Hermanus’ The History of Sound. Courtesy of MUBI.}

Review by Rebecca M. Alvin

There are people who step into our lives and mark us forever. And then, those same people, often just as spontaneously, walk out of our lives but never really let us go. In Massachusetts writer Ben Shattuck’s short story “The History of Sound,” the protagonist, Lionel tells us he has had synesthesia for his entire life, that he sees shapes and colors and tastes specific tastes in response to the sounds he hears. It’s a condition that few of us have, and yet in the context of relationships with magnetic personalities, it’s an astute metaphor: we feel them in our bones and respond to the chemistry in ways that defy the logic of our named senses.

In the film version, also called The History of Sound, as is so often the case with adaptations from stories based on the interior life of a character, director Oliver Hermanus adds plot elements that externalize the relationship between Lionel and David between 1917 and 1919, and the aftermath of their affair. It’s a somber film, with a nearly monochromatic color space, beautiful cinematography, and exceptional performances from Paul Mescal (Lionel) and Josh O’Connor (David). While the addition of details and scenes that flesh out the love affair between the two musicians, touch on World War I, racism and class division in America at the turn of the 20th century, and the importance of folk music as oral tradition that spans across continents and cultures, the heart of both the film and its source material is this experience of being forever changed by an encounter with another human being. 

To make the indescribable visible in a film is often an exercise in frustration, but here Hermanus manages to evoke those emotions many of us have felt through aspecific story about two men enchanted by folk songs along the Appalachian mountain range in Kentucky up to the extension of that region into Maine. The specifics of their particular interests as musicians add another dimension as it is a story about sound, about music—both the communal stories told through folk songs about poisoned lovers and long lost friends and the sounds we remember, such as your mother’s laugh or the sound of your true love’s heartbeat when you lay your head against his chest, or the memory of the sounds of songbirds singing you awake in the summer as you cope with the reality of winter darkness.

The History of Sound is a bittersweet story of lost love and regret, but it is also a story about those experiences we have—often fleeting—that change us in profound, yet unnamable ways, and the incredible and rare power of human connection.

The History of Sound opens on Friday, September 19 at Waters Edge Cinema, located in Whalers Wharf, 237 Commercial St., 2nd floor, Provincetown. For showtimes and tickets call 508.487.FILM or visit ptownfilm.org.