“Loving” writer/director Jeff Nichols has mentioned how perfectly suited to the character of Richard Loving Joel Edgerton’s large, weathered hands are, and it’s very apparent by the way he focuses on those rough, workmanlike hands in the film that he is using them as signifiers of the inner thoughts and emotions of the taciturn Richard.
Those capable hands are the way in which Richard provides for his family as he designs a home for them and expertly lays brick and block. They provide comfort to Mildred when they completely envelope her tiny hand when she reaches out to him for comfort; and they express his fear and frustration as he nervously worries at them in the presence of lawyers. Confronted with the vicious face of the law, they hang still and impotent at his sides.
My favourite “hand” moment though occurs near the end of the film when Richard and Mildred are sitting at their kitchen table across from the two lawyers who are about to argue their case before the US Supreme Court. It’s a moment of great contrast as we see the rather stiff Bernie Cohen in his suit and tie juxtaposed to the much larger Richard in his homey, red plaid jacket, but it’s the difference in their hands that catches the eye.
The sight of Cohen’s slender, office-work hand around his coffee cup contrasted to Richard’s enormous labourer’s hand which completely swallows up his mug, is Nichols’ way of subtly reinforcing the wonder that men from two such utterly dissimilar worlds were able to come together to achieve so much good; and once again displays Nichols’ unmatched talent for restrained but emotionally charged filmmaking.
Note: Final photo shows the hands of the real Richard and Mildred Loving as photographed by Grey Villet
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