In the drama of this period, premiered in Cannes, Hollywood's most buzzing male actors play lovers to create music together - but the film can be more passionate and urgent.

Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain was released 20 years ago, but there hasn't been a lot of drama about homosexuality since. In a way, the history of sound must count as a bold project: an expensive Hollywood movie in which two of the most buzzing male actors in the cinema are played by gay lovers. However, the theme is a strangely old-fashioned and traditional work. If you've never heard of its stars, Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor, you can easily mistake it for a long-lost movie made by some businessman ivory imitators from the 1980s or 90s.

Mescal plays Lionel, a Kentucky farm boy who grew up in a shack in the early 20th century. Lionel is said to have a great singing voice besides having a perfect pitch - although Mescal's singing never sounds better than anyone else in the movie, the character's talent is enough to win him a place in the Boston Conservatory. This is just one of many advances that are incredible for him.

Equally easy, the shy Lionel has a relationship with the Arch and confident David (O'Connor), a composition student who tastes folk music. Their problem-free romance continues until David fights in World War I, and Lionel must return to his family farm. But in 1919 (every date is on screen, so we won't get lost), David invites Lionel to join him on a field trip to the song. The pair will roam around the scenic country for weeks, recording folk ballads on wax jars, and sleeping under the canvas, where they may have elegant, inconspicuous sexual behavior and obviously no fear of prejudice or danger.

Still, this blissful camping holiday doesn't last forever, so Lionel will have to decide what to do in the years to come. Settling with David in elementary school? Will he be called a great company when he moves to Europe? Or take over the farm from his elderly parents.

To be honest, all three options look enviable. Directed by Murphy and life’s maker Oliver Hermanus, the sound history is one of those overly beautiful period dramas, each house is spotless, spotless even in remote wood, and every costume is carefully tailored and colorful. Don't mind his singing, Lionel's most impressive gift seems to be his ability to find the ideal suit and tie combination on every occasion.

Aside from aesthetics, his life went too smoothly, and his films couldn’t pull out the heartstrings with any power. Lionel may have some doubts about how he feels about David, but he never seems to be upset. Mescal and O'Connor are subtle charms, and surprisingly, Irish and British actors should play these most American characters so perfectly, but the history of voice doesn't explore the surface of its interstellar lover's appeal.

In the 1920s it gradually recorded their lives steadily, but it did not discover any urgency until it seemed to be the last scene - but it turned out that there were several scenes later, and they seemed to be the last scene. Ben Shattuck's script is based on his own short story, but with its laid back pace and multiple finales, the film feels longer than its two-hour run.

It leaves a heartbreaking and sad melancholy ballad to provide the harsh emotions that are lacking elsewhere. The most romantic sequence is Lionel and David walking through the woods, with exquisite coordination without any preparation, so many of the songs in this polite and polished film are regrettable. Ironically, Lionel gave a speech about why he liked folk music: it was because it was passionate, raw and messy. The history of voice is not these things.