‘Lazy and frustrating’: Paul Mescal shuts down comparisons of Brokeback Mountain with new film The History of Sound | Hollywood

Actor Paul Mescal is at the Cannes Film Festival to talk about his new film The History of Sound. The historical romantic drama film directed by Oliver Hermanus revolves around two young men who fall in love with each other during the World War I. Also starring Josh O’Connor, the film drew comparisons with another classic of queer cinema- Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. However, Paul is not keen making such a point. (Also read: Elle Fanning film Sentimental Value wows Cannes Film Festival with 19-minute standing ovation, the longest of the year)

What Paul said

Paul said at the press conference of the film, “I personally don’t see the parallels at all, other than the fact that we spent a bit of time in a tent. But each to their own. There’s a bigger question there in the fact that it draws your attention to ‘why do I think that it’s not that film?’”

‘Brokeback Mountain is a beautiful film’

He went on to add, “Brokeback Mountain is a beautiful film, but it’s dealing with the idea of repression, and this film is fundamentally pointed in the opposite direction. To be honest, I find those comparisons relatively lazy and frustrating. The relationship I have with [The History Of Sound] is born out of the fact that it’s a celebration of these two men’s love, not a film about their repressed relationship with their sexuality.”

Brokeback Mountain starred Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Williams. It revolved around the decades-long romantic relationship between two American cowboys and the consequences on their respective lifestyles. Widely acclaimed, the film went on to win 3 Oscars, and infamously lost Best Picture to Crash.

The History of Sound received a warm response at Cannes, with a 5 minute-long standing ovation after its world premiere.