All You Need is Loving
“Richard and Mildred Loving, two people who changed the country just by falling in love.”
-Brian Tallerico, on Loving
It’s 1958. Mildred and Richard Loving are arrested in Virginia for getting married due to the state’s ban on interracial marriages. This begins the Lovings’ story and how their case changed the Constitution forever.
Before this year, I had never heard of the Lovings. Sadly, most people haven’t. However, earlier this Spring, I found out that there was going to be a film about them, written and directed by Jeff Nichols, of Mud and Take Shelter fame. I immediately scoured everything I could find about their story - interviews, articles, photos. To me, this was perfect for a motion picture: a small-town interracial couple vs. the law, set during a period where discrimination was rampant. A classic David and Goliath tale, if you will.
It could’ve easily been told like that, and that was what I expected but I’ve never been more glad to be proven wrong. Instead of focusing on the politics and courtroom drama of it all, Nichols expertly decides to focus on the Lovings themselves. Amidst the injustice, the film explores their day-to-day lives: getting married, raising kids, going to work, and so on. Nichols illustrates them as a couple living their lives because that was who they were, even while being in the forefront of a case that made history.
Watching the film, you can easily be infuriated that there are no cries of injustice or some dramatic monologue. You wait for it to happen, but it never does because that isn’t the point. Instead, the point is about depicting love, in its simplest terms. Once you accept this, it’s hard not to applaud Nichols for capturing a human experience with such subtlety and simplification.
As the credits started rolling, my initial thought was about how peaceful and quiet the film’s tone was - very much conducive to the way the Lovings carry themselves. It’s the first film I’ve watched that didn’t have much of a climax, yet I still felt resolution. For instance, in the film’s most awaited scene, where Mildred gets the news that the Supreme Court ruled in their favor, a sense of stillness continues to overpower the scene. Upon hearing the news, Mildred, played by the magnificent Ruth Negga, just smiles and quietly responds. Not many words were needed, Negga’s performance with her beaming eyes said it all.
It would be an injustice if I didn’t comment on the powerful dynamic of the film’s two leads: Negga and Joel Edgerton. The two’s chemistry is undeniable and, in my opinion, carries the weight of the film. In most scenes, the camera lingers on their faces as if it doesn’t want to miss even a second of their performance. Without the need for much dialogue, the two portray intimacy so perfectly that it haunts you even after you leave the theater.
In all respects, Loving is minimalistic. It’s hushed and slowly-paced. It’s beautifully intimate. The film doesn’t get wrapped up in needing to be over-the-top, which can be to the dismay of some viewers who expected something more dramatic. Nonetheless, like the Lovings, the film is ever so genuine and authentic. The story, at its core, is about the love between two people who just wanted to be together, and that’s all it needed to be - no more, no less.