By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
CANNES, France (AP) --Jeff Nichols' quiet drama about the profound and simple love that toppled interracial marriage restrictions in the United States made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday.
The film, "Loving," stars Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton as Mildred and Richard Loving, whose marriage got them jailed and exiled from Virginia but ultimately led to a landmark 1967 Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality.
"Loving," which will open theatrically in the heart of awards season in November, is an unconventional civil rights drama in that it doesn't swell with amplified Hollywood moments or a heroic courtroom climax. Instead, it's a straightforward portrait of the couple.
"I wanted to make a movie about two people in love," said Nichols, the Arkansas director of "Mud" and "Midnight Special." ''I truly believe this is one of the most pure love stories in American history."
Nichols said he wanted to make the film outside of politics, though he referenced the story's obvious resonance to today. Lost in the pitched political battles, he said, are the lives of the individuals.
"We can talk about bathroom laws and all of this ridiculousness because it's not attached to people," he told reporters, referring to the North Carolina bill that restricts public facility use by transgender individuals to their biological sex. "It's just these politics ideas and I think that's a waste of time."
The Lovings were humble, reluctant heroes, themselves. Their tender marriage was famously photographed by Life magazine's Grey Villet (Michael Shannon in the film) in 1967 with the headline: "The Crime of Being Married."
For Negga, the Ethiopian-Irish actress of AMC's upcoming "Preacher," the role was a personal and professional culmination.
"It was like being with a friend for two years," she said of Mildred. "I fell deeply in love with Mildred and Richard and their story. I think we all just wanted to do them justice."
"One of the things that struck me while working on this film is, what happens between two individuals is nobody else's business," Edgerton said.
Focus Features will release "Loving" in North America on Nov. 4.
Music Biopics Get Creative At Toronto Film Festival
Many of the expected conventions of music biopics are present in "Piece by Piece," about the producer-turned-pop star Pharrell Williams, and "Better Man," about the British singer Robbie Williams. There's the young artist's urge to break through, fallow creative periods and regrettable chapters of fame-addled excess. But there are a few, little differences. In "Piece by Piece," Pharrell is a Lego. And in "Better Man," Williams is played by a CGI monkey. If the music biopic can sometimes feel a little stale in format, these two movies, both premiering this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, attempt novel remixes. In each film, each Williams recounts his life story as a narrator. But their on-screen selves aren't movie stars who studied to get a part just right, but computer-generated animations living out real superstar fantasies. While neither Williams has much in common as a musician, neither has had a very traditional career. Their films became reflections of their individuality, and, maybe, a way to distinguish themselves in the crowded field of music biopics like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Rocketman." "This is about being who you are, even if it's not something that can be put in a box," Pharrell said in an interview Tuesday alongside director Morgan Neville. Also next to Pharrell: A two-foot-tall Lego sculpture of himself, which was later in the day brought to the film's premiere and given its own seat in the crowd. The experience watching the crowd-pleasing "Piece by Piece," which Focus Features will release Oct. 11, can be pleasantly discombobulating. A wide spectrum of things you never expected to see in Lego form are animated. Virginia Beach (where Pharrell grew up). An album of Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life."... Read More