The Irish-Ethiopian actor gives an Oscar-worthy performance in Jeff Nichols’ film approximately the effects of Jim Crow racism on a mixed-race couple in 1950s VirginiaRuth Negga is the beating heart of this film: subtle,gentle, emotionally generous, and possessed of integrity and power. Revisiting this film and her own Oscar-nominated performance has confirmed my admiration for what she achieved here,but also reminded me of the issues that were obvious when I saw Loving in Cannes last year, when I thought there might be something a microscopic reticent and even occasionally underpowered approximately it. The film seems weakest in showing the legal contest and is reluctant to dramatise the central characters’ intimacy. Sometimes their on-screen relationship seems constrained and subdued. These are still considerations, and although the film’s delicacy lies in removing the emphasis from the couple’s physical relationship – a subject that preoccupied the racists. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com