Interracial drama ‘Loving’ gets the awards talk going
Loving got serious affection at the Cannes International Film Festival on Monday.
The true story about Richard and Mildred Loving, whose interracial marriage in 1958 violated Virginia’s anti-miscegenation laws and eventually made its way to the Supreme Court, received a buoyant Cannes welcome.
Writer and director Jeff Nichols, along with actors Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga (who play the Loving couple), received a rousing standing ovation at the Palais des Festivals for the film’s world premiere.
Negga wiped tears from her eyes during the ovation.
The excitement carried over to critics as the industry website The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the debut “immediately made the case why the film has to be considered one of this year’s first major awards contenders.”
Deadline.com’s Pete Hammond wrote that Loving “has the kind of bona fides that make Academy Award contenders.” In a news conference Monday, Negga and Edgerton were half-jokingly asked if they had written their awards acceptance speeches. The drama is set for U.S. release in an awardsfriendly Nov. 4 slot.
Loving portrays the white husband, Richard (Edgerton), and his black wife, Mildred (Negga), who have their Virginia home broken into by police officers in the early hours of July 11, 1958. They were arrested for their marriage, which was against the law in Virginia.
They were sentenced to a year in prison, which was suspended on the condition they leave Virginia. Their fight to return led all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and a landmark civil rights decision that invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage.
Besides standouts Edgerton and Negga, Loving also features a surprising dramatic performance from comedian Nick Kroll as the ACLU lawyer who took on the case. Michael Shannon, as Grey Villet, the Life magazine photographer who shot iconic images of the Lovings, appears briefly.
At an after-party, Edgerton said the Cannes reception was “honest and heartfelt.”
“I know in my bones that Jeff has made a great movie.”