Paul Mescal rejects ‘lazy and frustrating’ Brokeback Mountain comparisons to new gay film

Paul Mescal is not courting the immediate comparisons that have been made between his new film with Josh O’Connor, and Brokeback Mountain.

The Oscar nominee and his co-star play gay lovers in New England in the late 1910s, music students at a conservatory together before America’s draft for World War One separates them.

There’s been huge anticipation for The History of Sound bringing together two such highly sought-after talents, and following its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival last night, Brokeback Mountain references came in thick and fast in early reviews.

But it’s something that Mescal, 29, said left him feeling ‘frustrated’ during Thursday’s press conference at Cannes for the film.

Responding to Metro‘s question about the comparison and how he felt about it, the actor began: ‘I personally don’t see the parallel at all between Brokeback Mountain, other than the fact that we spent a little bit of time in a tent. But each to their own in terms of how you are!’

In The History of Sound, Mescal and O’Connor’s characters, Lionel and David, reconnect after the war when David invites Lionel on a walking tour of Maine to record and collect folk songs.

The Normal People actor then added he felt there was ‘a bigger question there’ in why exactly he thought The History of Sound was ‘not that film’.

‘Because that film, to me, when I look at Brokeback Mountain – it’s a beautiful film, but it is dealing with the idea of repression, and this film is fundamentally pointed in the opposite direction,’ he argued.

‘So I think, to be honest, I find those comparisons relatively lazy and frustrating.’

In his mind, he shared, ‘the film 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’.

For 2005’s Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal played cowboys in the 1960s who embark on a sexual relationship – but Ledger’s Ennis, in particular, struggles with his feelings and marries his longtime fiancée Alma (Michelle Williams) instead.

It is often seen as a huge turning point in the advancement of queer stories in mainstream cinema, grossing $178million (£132.6m) against a $14m (£10.4m) budget and earning eight Oscar nominations.

Director Oliver Hermanus also chimed in with his thoughts, saying that Brokeback Mountain ‘wasn’t really in our heads at all’ while making The History of Sound.

He added: ‘I guess maybe this is the deficiency in this assumption, that films with really great actors, well-known actors playing lovers in a relationship – the only previous sort of incarnation of something that is kind of comparable was 20 years ago.

‘Obviously it just shows that there should be more films about the dynamics and the nuances of queer relationships, of relationships that are beyond the context of what most movies probably deal with.’

He also echoed Mescal in sharing that the idea of the film ‘wasn’t about the complication of their sexuality’.

‘That wasn’t the problem between them. That wasn’t the thing that was going to keep him apart. What was going to keep them apart was the assumption that they might have other loves in their life, and that they might come back to each other, and there would be more time.’

Hermanus pointed to David’s ‘internal suffering’ after serving in the war and how Lionel ‘has to work through what happened and why that happened and in searching for that answer, discovers that his very first love, potentially his great love, was also his last love – and that’s where our soul as makers was’.

‘It was never about like, oh, we have to have loads of sex scenes, and the world needs to get Paul and Josh [to] take their kit off. And they do go on a walking trip through Maine so unfortunately tents would have to be included in that!’ he quipped.

‘And so it’s something we feel very strongly about – we’re very proud of how our film is about love in a different context.’

O’Connor was unable to make it to Cannes to support the premiere of the film as he is busy filming on director Steven Spielberg’s as-yet untitled new film, opposite Emily Blunt, Colin Firth and Colman Domingo.

The History of Sound premiered at Cannes Film Festival. It is yet to receive a UK release date.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.