The History of Us

The narrative spans the early 20th century and closes in the 1980s, tracing major eras from World War I through postwar memory culture. It follows Lionel from a 1917 Boston music student into a lifelong ethnomusicologist who revisits his past across continents. The device of letters and wax-cylinder recordings weaves decades together, turning memory into a tangible archive.

The story unfolds across multiple locations tied to Lionel and David’s lives. It begins in Boston, where Lionel Worthing studies at the Conservatory and meets David White. He then returns to Kentucky to tend his family farm after his father’s death. Maine becomes the setting for the wax-cylinder folk-song collection trips, while Rome marks Lionel’s European chapters and Oxford anchors his later academic career.

🎶 Music & Memory

Folk songs and wax cylinders anchor memory across decades. Lionel and David’s romance is encoded in the music they collect and perform. The recordings resurrect past feelings and offer a tangible link to what was shared. The ending reintroduces a cherished song, notably 'The Unquiet Grave,' as a lasting trace of their bond.

💔 Love Across Time

Love survives across distance and years as Lionel and David sustain their connection through letters and music. The couple’s reunions and separations reveal how devotion can endure but be shaped by circumstance. The narrative builds toward the revelation of David’s fate and the impact of Belle’s testimony on Lionel’s memory.

🕰️ Time & Distance

Time and space continuously redraw the couple’s life, moving from the US to Europe and back again. The story uses travel through Boston, Kentucky, Maine, Rome, and Oxford to show how memory travels with a person. The archival frame—the letters, the cylinders, and later the book—cements how the past persists.

🪖 War & Trauma

World War I unsettles the world and the lovers, with David drafted and the war’s shadows lingering long after. Shell shock and trauma contribute to David’s ultimate death by suicide, shaping Lionel’s lifelong ache. The film treats memory as a way to confront and narrate those wounds. The final recordings offer a bittersweet reconciliation with a past that cannot be fully restored.