Well, the thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone. The hip bone’s connected to the backbone – which pieces of a woman are we talking about here? I’ve quickly fallen behind in some reviews for 2021, but anyone who knows me, knows that I’ve recently endured the passing of my Nan (a very special person in my life), which has caused my writing process to slow down for the past little while. I’m hoping that this is the sort of movie and review I can dedicate to my Nan, as I recommence my pursuit to write. Love you Nan ❤
Martha Weiss (Vanessa Kirby) and Sean Carson (Shia LeBeouf) are having a baby. They have elected to have a homebirth, and what results is a movie about a fallout from complications when life does not go to plan. As has been my way of late, I went into Pieces of a Woman cold-turkey, and came away believing that cold-turkey was the best way to watch this movie. I preface all my reviews with the potential that I’ll disregard spoilers, but I’m doubling-down on that warning today, as it’s impossible for me to write about this movie from here on in without major spoilers. If you haven’t seen Pieces of a Woman for yourself and you want to, go away, watch it, and come back. Pieces of a Woman is directed by Kornel Mundruczo.
I’ve got a bit to say about the choice to film the birthing sequence as if it was one shot. If I wasn’t one to commit to a movie until it’s full fruition, I would have turned it off. Without ever being in a position where a partner of mine was preparing to give birth, I wondered, who is this for? Is there a clambering for a realistic re-enactment of birth that would supersede parenting materials that already exist? Human birth is not like scenes in 1917 or Life, putting us in a first-person position through a one-shot, where most of us will never get the opportunity to experience those locations, of The First World War or outer-space respectively, any other way. I didn’t want to watch Martha give birth so suddenly, so I found the first-person one-shot off-putting. But I learnt something; I am nowhere near prepared to go through the experience of childbirth for myself, and maybe, if the time ever comes, I’ll be better off due to this virtual trail run. Because by the time Martha is in the tub, and the Coldplay-like music starts to swell, I began to get invested, and by the time the midwife pulls out our faint-hearted little newborn and she starts to wail, I almost cried with relief as if I was actually the parent. I can’t say the birthing sequence isn’t the epitome of tense and effective, without a doubt.
But tragically, the baby does die, and from then on, curious confusion continues; the most important questions of Martha are never asked; which is, ‘Martha, how are you? What are you thinking?’. Sean doesn’t handle it at all well, holistically focusing on his own needs and falling into his own personal pitfalls of despair, whilst Martha’s mother Elizabeth (Ellen Burstyn) values retribution above all else. Pieces of a Woman is similar to Marriage Story, exploring a very real and personal scenario befalling a couple, but less applicable, because these characters are horrible; that is, they don’t act like I’d expect a loving family to behave. I mean, I think I’d be a pretty crap partner or mother if I wasn’t checking in with the person who just lost the baby and asking how she was feeling at any given time. I have close friends, who lost a son, born prematurely and unfortunately passed away just two days after the birth… I know it was a hard time. This movie made me reflect on their strength and togetherness to move forward. It also had me look back and acknowledge, how ill-prepared I must have been to empathise, or even comprehend such a large family-orientated tragedy, when I don’t have a steady partner or children of my own; but I’m sure I wouldn’t have been as thoughtless as these people – the brother-in-law Chris (Benny Safdie) with no tact for the circumstances, and the prattling friend of Martha’s mother who bumps into Martha in the supermarket included.
On a surface level, I also found moments of Pieces of a Woman bordering on pretentious, by the way the movie uses the symbolism of the bridge and the date as a metaphor for healing, whilst some of the dialogue uses double-entendre that is too… obvious – ‘I wonder if he stepped in his own shit’, says sister Anita (Iliza Shlesinger), as Sean wipes off his shoe before entering a hostile room of his own making. Nothing in this movie is out of the realm of possibility, but a lot of it didn’t connect with me, which is disappointing because I was invested in learning about the experience of child mortality. I wonder how much, if any, of this story comes from writer Kate Weber’s own personal experience; I bloody hope none, but if so, for a movie, I would have liked to have known more about how the character of Martha was feeling, even it was just through her private expressions, or reactions. Likewise, the only time I truly got a sense that I understood where Elizabeth was coming from, was when she was rabbiting on about her experience as a baby, lifting her head up, which would be hearsay anyway, right? Because as if she would remember it. The performances are great, even if I’m out of step with the script; especially Vanessa Kirby and Ellen Burstyn. I’d heard a whisper that Shia LeBeouf is at his best in this movie, but his part seems easy to me, and I definitely preferred him more recently in Honey Boy and The Peanut Butter Falcon. But the movie explores its most interesting story element at the end; how Martha will make sense of her daughter’s passing, and who should be held responsible. Since we are put in the room and forced to follow midwife Eva Woodward (Molly Parker) at crucial times in her process, it’s obvious what should result from her trail, in regards to the night in question at least. This movie is fine, in fact it’s very heartfelt at times. But it wants to engage the same tense uncertainty that a movie like Uncut Gems has at times too, and it’s not quite there.
I’m struggling to realise what this movie is referring to with the title ‘Pieces of a Woman’ too, unless it’s about what connections make a woman who she is – a daughter, a mother, a partner, her quest for justice and closure. This movie has the goods when it focuses on our main protagonist; her grief and her resolution in bringing positive definition out of tragedy – the final scene is most commendable for that.
3.5
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