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Loving
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival May 16,2016
Plot (Spoiler Alert)Richard Loving and Mildred are in love with each other and get married in 1958. Caroline County, Virginia, where they live, won’t allow the marriage of a white man and black woman. It is against the law in Virginia and to stay together they are forced to leave the state. They have the help of two lawyers, Bernard Cohen and Phil Hirschkop to make their marriage legal to the US Supreme Court.
Blaine: It’s one of those historical movies about not giving up and changing history and that’s one of the reasons I was drawn to “Loving” and another reason was because Jeff Nichols’ films are so original. Jeff wasn’t aware of the Lovings’ story until he watched the documentary, “The Loving Story”, by Nancy Buiriki and it was very important for Jeff that this be made into a film because it’s a story not a lot of people know about. It was a challenge for Jeff to write the script, but he was able to write a script that was strong and dramatic. Jeff didn’t want to make “Loving” a courtroom drama and felt it should be more focused on the relationship between Richard and Mildred and it affected both of them and their children. There was one point in the movie when my dad was asking why Richard and Mildred didn’t move to the North where their marriage can be accepted? But then after they moved to Washington D.C. Mildred was having trouble sleeping because of the noise, we realized Virginia is quieter, and has nature surrounding people’s houses. Jeff Nichols paid a visit to Virginia and saw the house Richard had built for Mildred, Central Point, Passing Road and the farmland. He could see how beautiful Virginia is and it made sense why the Lovings didn’t want to leave the place. Some of the sets they shot in were the real thing like the courthouse where Mildred and Richard were put on trial for the first time and the jail cell that Mildred was kept in while she was pregnant. Jeff Nichols said that when he writes a script, he has the actors that will play the characters on his mind because he’s creating those characters, but for “Loving” he had to find actors who could bring these real life historical characters to life physically on the big screen. Ruth Negga was the first person they auditioned for Mildred Loving and one of the producers said as soon as Ruth walked into the room, she was channeling Mildred and they were seeing Mildred coming alive through her audition. Jeff said Ruth’s posture, mouth and voice changed. Ruth Negga wanted to hold on to Mildred for the duration of the audition. Joel Edgerton had worked with Jeff that same year on “Midnight Special” and Jeff took one look at Joel thinking that he could pass for Richard Loving if he lost a little weight and dyed his hair blond. Jeff also knew Joel has this amazing facility for a voice as well as posture and body language. Jeff believed Nick Kroll looked like Bernie Cohen, one of the lawyers who represent Richard and Mildred, and Nick is also an actor who really understands why he’s there and what he is doing, according to Jeff. Jeff was looking at old photos of Grey Villet, the LIFE magazine photographer who was assigned to shoot a photo essay on the Lovings, and he thought Grey looked like Michael Shannon and Michael has been in all of Jeff’s films so far and for “Loving”, Michael had to be gregarious. Michael Shannon did a little research on Grey and thought he was a very interesting person and a fantastic photographer after taking some iconic photos of the Lovings. My rating on “Loving” is five out of five stars. Jeff Nichols, Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton at the Cannes Film Festival 2016 
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