The United States Supreme Court struck down all statewide bans on interracial marriage on June 12, 1967. This decision was the result of a lawsuit filed by Mildred Loving, an African American woman. She and her husband Richard, who was white, were a quiet, simple couple in Virginia. The Lovings had been arrested shortly after their 1958 marriage. All the Lovings wanted to do was to raise their family and love each other, and they shunned the spotlight they were thrust into.
In the new film Loving, now playing in theaters, the lives of the Lovings and the battles they were forced to fight are recreated.
"Is there anything you want me to tell the judge?" Richard Loving is asked by his attorney as a court date looms on the horizon.
"Tell him I love my wife," Loving (Joel Edgerton) replies. It's one of many powerful moments in a film that serves in part as a character study of the couple who fought the original marriage equality battle.
As the story unfolds, some viewers might note the striking similarities between the Loving story and the marriage battle fought by the LGBT community more than 40 years later. In one particularly infuriating scene that underscores the injustices they were subjected to, the Lovings are told by a judge that they can avoid jail time if they leave Virginia and agree not return to the state for 25 years.
"The LGBT marriage equality fight was definitely in the back of our minds during filming," director Jeff Nichols said after a recent press preview of the film. "The two battles were more or less the same."
Nichols added that while much of Loving was based on historical documents, little was known about the years when the couple lived under the radar as their case worked its way through the courts.
"What were they doing in their day-to-day lives while the court case was progressing?" Nichols wondered as he explained how he pieced the story together. "Since details of their years in hiding weren't available, I tried to focus on the pervasive psychological threat that was hanging over them during those years."
The results are mesmerizing. Though it's largely speculation �" both Richard and Mildred have passed on �" Nichols presents a plausible look inside the couple's private lives as they eat their meals, watch TV and raise their kids amid a facade of normalcy, all the while knowing that either or both of them could be arrested at any time.
Actor Joel Edgerton, who plays Richard Loving, told the B.A.R. that he went to bricklayers school. Loving had worked as a bricklayer and is seen at work in several scenes, and Edgerton wanted absolute authenticity in his portrayal of Loving. He also said that he watched Nancy Buirski's documentary film The Loving Story so he could capture the nuances of his character's vocal mannerisms and body language.