‘Pieces of a Woman’ Review
I think it’s safe to say “Pieces of a Woman” will receive the lion’s share of Netflix’s “for your consideration” budget. The film follows Martha Weiss (Vanessa Kirby), a woman who loses her baby in childbirth, as she struggles with her grief and her damaged relationships with her husband (Shia LaBoeuf) and her controlling mother (Ellen Burstyn), who wishes to prosecute the midwife who oversaw the delivery. The film’s premise, tone, dramatic arc, and focus on acting all make it clear awards-bait, but Hungarian director Kornel Mundrozco and his writing partner (and life partner) Kata Weber bring a distinctly Eastern European sense of coolness, control, and methodical pacing that makes the film stand out from its comparatively jumpy and agitated American contemporaries.
The performances are by far the centerpiece. The film is based on a play, also by Mundruczo and Weber, and as such the film and its narrative are primarily acting driven. Vanessa Kirby, Shia LeBoeuf, and Ellen Burstyn each take turns showing off their acting chops and while some set piece moments feel a little too theatrical, they are effective nonetheless and the connective tissue between those scenes allows each actor to breathe life into their characters with subtlety and nuance. There is no doubt, however, that it is the more histrionic aspects of their performances, especially Kirby’s, that will garner them what awards attention is to come.
All this theatricality is not to say the film is not cinematic. While it resembles a play dramatically and structurally, Mundruzco and his crew manage to use film techniques to elevate several scenes that may otherwise feel rote. The film’s big set piece, the 27 minute long labor scene at the beginning that is done in a single take, is a filmmaking highlight that stands out as one of the best technical showcases in 2020. In spite of some questionable prosthetics, the camerawork, staging, and spare audio help create an immense amount of tension that carries the audience through a scene that might otherwise feel tedious and overlong. The rest of the film fails to live up to the grand expectations set by the opening act, but still manages to be engaging through its strong character work and melodrama.
Many films that are either Netflix produced or distributed directly to the platform have a tendency to disappoint in spite of their high artistic pedigree and often feel oddly similar to one another despite the divergent talent behind the camera. “Pieces of a Woman” is a rare Netflix film that is very good in its own right, but also stands on its own creatively, offering unique cinematic moments that are truly its own and not belonging to another work. “Pieces of a Woman” is punishingly bleak in a similar way as “Manchester by the Sea“, but has more of an optimistic tone toward the finale and has much more going for it cinematically. It’s definitely not a bad way to go if you’re in the mood for something sad but also a bit uplifting.
Verdict: Witness
A “Good Time” connection: It stood out as odd that the title card for the film doesn’t appear until 30 minutes in, after a protracted opening sequence. This reminded me a lot of my favorite film of 2017, “Good Time”, which does something similar, but it might also be because Benny Safdie is a prominent supporting actor in this film as well.
