#REVIEW Loving
Loving, which is written and directed by Jeff Nichols, is a 2016 film based on the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple, who challenged America’s anti-miscegenation laws, which banned marriages between whites and non-whites that date back to America’s colonial past.
The film follows a linear narrative beginning with the courtship and marriage of Mildred Jeter, a black woman, played by Ruth Negga, and Richard Loving, a white man, played by Joel Edgerton. They marry out of state in Washington, D.C in 1958 which did not ban marriages between whites and non-whites. Upon their return to Virginia, their married life is cut short and violently interrupted when the law intervenes. They are arrested, jailed, and convicted for violating the state’s anti-miscegenation laws. They plead guilty to avoid imprisonment and accept the harsh sentencing which bans them from returning together as a couple for 25 years to the State of Virginia. They do leave but return in the dead of night as fugitives of the law, so Richard’s mother, a mid-wife, can deliver their baby. They are found out and re-arrested but due to the intervention of their lawyer Frank Beazley (Bill Camp) avoid imprisonment and are shown leniency by the court. In 1963, while living in Washington, D.C., with the civil rights movement in full swing, they decide to fight back and appeal the ruling which banned them from living as a married couple in their home state. They return to Virginia with legal support to fight a wrong and take their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and win a victory not just for themselves but for all individuals to freely choose and wed partners of their own choosing.
The film opens with a close up of Mildred (Negga), who is beautifully lit, telling Richard, her beloved, some important news. The film cuts to a close up of Richard and then to a medium shot of the two and then, to a wide angle shot of the two protagonists sitting on the porch in the moonlight sharing an intimate and loving moment. The motif of love runs throughout the film and is the thread that holds the film together. It weaves itself throughout the narrative against a backdrop of injustice and bigotry interspersed with beautiful images of nature and the Virginian countryside. Nichols wonderfully creates an intimate and moving portrait of this courageous and loving couple helped by the superb acting of Negga and Edgerton. Their struggles, fears and hardships become your struggles, fears and hardships. I wouldn’t be surprised if Negga wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award for her incredible portrayal of Mildred Loving or Joel Edgerton for his portrayal of Richard Loving. I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed for the both of them.
There are many powerful, terrifying, and evocative images in the film which include among many, the arrest and jailing of Mildred and Joel. One of most powerful for me was seeing Mildred and Richard standing alone together in front of the court house after their lawyer Beazley issues them an ultimatum never to return and walks away. Their vulnerability and the injustice of their situation are on visual display. I particularly liked the out of focus images of the Supreme Court judges in the background with Philip J. Hirschkop (Jon Bass) and Bernard S. Cohen (Nick Kroll) in focus in the foreground making their legal arguments interspersing these scenes with images of the Loving family being a family. I equated the out of focus images of the Supreme Court judges as an abstraction and social construct of society, an intangible, which it is, deciding on the fate and happiness of a family, something real and concrete. I loved the ending of the film and seeing the Loving story come full circle with a beautiful close up of Mildred (Negga) sitting in the front seat of the car looking lovingly at her husband working on the foundation of their house and with their children playing in the background in the light of day. I enjoyed the scenes of comic relief involving Cohen (Kroll), and was very impressed not only by how Nichols visually recreated the story of a Life Magazine photo of the Lovings but wove the civil rights movement in the narrative of the film in a subtle way through TV viewing without overwhelming it.
I give the film two thumbs up. Do see it for you won’t be disappointed for it is an excellent film, well-crafted with amazing production values, beautifully shot and superbly acted. It is an inspirational film that celebrates the human spirit, the power of love, social justice, and reiterates for me in particular that the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation and that people, no matter what society thinks, have the right to love and be with whoever they choose no matter the colour of their skin or gender. Kudos to Jeff Nichols and his team for bringing us an amazing film!
Universal Pictures Canada releases Loving exclusively in Toronto on Friday, Oct 18, 2016
