Welcome back to ‘A Brief Review’ a series of brief reviews on films from the present day and all the way back in time. Hoping to filter through the commotion and give some decent reviews of some rather decent films.
Directed by Kornel
Mundruczo and written by Kata Weber, Pieces of a Woman is the
heart-breaking story of childbirth gone inconceivably wrong. As Martha (Vanessa
Kirby) gives birth to a crying baby alongside her loving partner Sean (Shia
LaBeouf) after an eventful labour, everything seems perfect. It was a home
birth, delivered by a relieved stand in midwife Eva (Molly Parker) but as the
crying stops, the fear strikes in as things take a turn for the worst with the
baby in deep distress. As the brief happy moment turns into a nightmare
everyone holds their breath as the paramedics dash in, but it is too late. Pieces
of a Woman documents the gut-wrenching healing process that takes place
when a parent loses a child. A 1-year odyssey of anger, passion, deceit and
love, a deeply intimate story of a woman coping with an unimaginable loss, and
how it adversely affects the people around her.
Now there’s no doubt that there
are moments in this film that are intensely uncomfortable to watch. The way the
camera moves, the deeply layered score and of course Vanessa Kirby’s brilliant
performance as a distressed mother, it is an incredibly powerful and intimate
film that stops you in your tracks effortlessly. The film works with the notion
that everyone deals with grief and loss differently, there are no rights and
wrongs in these scenarios, and it is going to be somewhat messy. Sean feels
that Martha isn’t allowing herself to grieve but Martha is grieving, just in a
vastly different way to Sean. It’s also important to note that the director and
writer know first-hand about what it is like to lose a child in this way, they
know the emotions that Martha and Sean are going through, how grief only
becomes removed when you confront it, it is going to be chaotic in parts, but
it is so overwhelmingly human.
This is a film that does not hold
back. Not only in
the depressing the story itself, but how sluggishly the film moves along, and
this is very intentional. It requires you to be patient, leaping into the
emotional heart of the film’s title characters as they do what they believe is the
right thing in a shocking situation. Vanessa Kirby is outstanding as she navigates
her way through life as a woman who will never be the same, she longs for the
child that she lost all day, every day. Whether she is on the subway, at work,
or socialising, she can only think about what might have been. Shia LaBeouf too
is equally exceptional in his own right as he once again changes the early perceptions
about his acting career for the better. Proving himself to be an actor capable
of displaying the vulnerability and frailties of men with ease and palpable
realism.
The reviews for this film have
been mixed, largely due to the long-drawn-out scenes and uncomfortable viewing
nature, but I feel that this is the film’s true strength. Displaying the
message that time is always the best healer. While you can never forget an
event like this in your life, you can actually become a stronger person because
of it and in the case for this film, it will allow you to look at cinema
differently in the future. It’s unconventional and upsetting, but it allows to
take a step back and think about the issues people all over the world are dealing
with every day. You never really know the pain someone feels on the inside
until you experience something like this.
Pieces of a Woman was a deeply worthwhile experience for me, and there is no surprise that it has received a solid amount of Oscars buzz at the upcoming awards.
I’m not going to try and claim that this is a film for multiple viewings, but
it is a film all of us should experience at least once.
My Rating: 8/10
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