CANNES- 1917, two young men meet at the Boston Conservatory, David plays the piano, Lionel studies singing. The melody of a traditional ballad creates an immediate connection between the two that is destined to last over time, despite everything. The History of Sound, directed by Oliver Hermanus (Living, two nominations for the 2023 Oscars), written by Ben Shattuck, who adapted his story of the same title, and presented in Competition at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, includes scenes shot in Italy.
Paul Mescal (Gladiator II, 2024) plays Lionel alongside Josh O'Connor (La Chimera, 2023; Challengers, 2024) as David. Their delicate and complex love story begins in Boston, but develops in 1920 during a journey through the forests and islands of Maine to collect folk songs to preserve for future generations. After their separation, Lionel no longer has any news of David. Now a professional musician and chorister, he moves to Italy for a short time, but continues to remain internally tied to his friend. Bored by life in Rome, he accepts a position at a prestigious English university. Over the years, Lionel experiences new loves, but continues to nurse deep nostalgia for the journey he took with David. On the death of his mother, he chooses to return permanently to the United States, where he makes a bitter discovery.
Director Oliver Hermanus carefully reconstructs the period settings, reflecting the timeframe from 1917 to the late 1920s. Lionel's rustic house in Kentucky, the bar in Boston where they meet and the rural areas they travel through are portrayed with a refined fidelity that provides a variegated image of the United States. From sophisticated cities to more backward locations, Hermanus recreates a landscape rich in images, sounds and captivating music, which Lionel continues to remember and seek even while far away in Europe.
Shot mainly in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maine, the central scenes of the film set in 1920s Rome were shot in Tarquinia, with a two day shoot in and around the Duomo, the alleys of the city and the central fountain.