{"id":11090,"date":"2025-05-21T19:44:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T19:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/2025\/05\/21\/the-history-of-the-sound-review-paul-mescal-and-josh-oconnors-gay-romance-are-too-polite\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T19:44:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T19:44:39","slug":"the-history-of-the-sound-review-paul-mescal-and-josh-oconnors-gay-romance-are-too-polite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/2025\/05\/21\/the-history-of-the-sound-review-paul-mescal-and-josh-oconnors-gay-romance-are-too-polite\/","title":{"rendered":"The history of the sound review: Paul Mescal and Josh O&#8217;Connor&#8217;s gay romance are &#8220;too polite&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Introduction to a Period Drama<\/h1>\n<p>The Cannes Film Festival has premiered a new period drama featuring two of Hollywood&#8217;s most popular male actors as lovers who make music together. However, the film lacks passion and urgency, which are essential elements for a compelling story.<\/p>\n<h2>A Daring Project with Conventional Approach<\/h2>\n<p>The movie is considered a daring project due to its expensive Hollywood budget and the portrayal of a same-sex romance. Despite this, the film&#8217;s approach is strangely old-fashioned and conventional, resembling a long-lost film from the 1980s or 1990s. The story follows Lionel, a farm boy from Kentucky, and David, a composition student, as they navigate their relationship and pursue their passion for music.<\/p>\n<h3>The Story Unfolds<\/h3>\n<p>Lionel, played by Paul Mescal, has a perfect pitch and a remarkable vocal voice, which secures him a place in a Boston conservatory. He meets David, played by Josh O&#8217;Connor, and they start a relationship that is remarkably problem-free. Their romance continues until David is drafted into World War I, and Lionel has to return to his family farm. After the war, David invites Lionel to join him on a road trip, where they collect folk ballads and sleep under the stars.<\/p>\n<h2>Underwhelming Experience<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the attractive surface of the film, with its talented lead actors and beautiful scenery, the story lacks depth and examination. The characters&#8217; lives are portrayed as too smooth, with no real challenges or conflicts. The film&#8217;s pace is leisurely, and the ending is prolonged, with several scenes feeling like the last one. The script, adapted from a short story, feels longer than its two-hour runtime.<\/p>\n<h3>A Polite and Polished Film<\/h3>\n<p>The film&#8217;s director, Oliver Hermanus, has created a visually stunning movie with flawless costumes and settings. However, this attention to detail cannot compensate for the lack of passion and urgency in the story. The film&#8217;s most romantic sequence, where Lionel and David harmonize in the forest, is a rare moment of emotional depth. The rest of the film feels like a missed opportunity to explore the characters&#8217; emotions and relationships.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>The film&#8217;s failure to deliver a compelling story is ironic, given Lionel&#8217;s speech about the importance of folk music being passionate, raw, and chaotic. The movie&#8217;s polite and polished approach undermines its potential, leaving the audience with a sense of disappointment. The history of sound is a film that could have been more, but ultimately, it falls short of expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction to a Period Drama The Cannes Film Festival has premiered a new period drama featuring two of Hollywood&#8217;s most popular male actors as lovers who make music together. However, the film lacks passion and urgency, which are essential elements for a compelling story. A Daring Project with Conventional Approach The movie is considered a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11090","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11092,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11090\/revisions\/11092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}