PIECES OF A WOMAN, Hungarian film/theater director Kornél Mundruczó's eighth feature, derives from a real life tragedy, he and his partner Kata Wéber lost their baby due to an abortive pregnancy. The latter channels her grief into words, first a stage play, now a screenplay, and Mundruczó, who has already strut his stuff as a technically exuberant filmmaker through his previous works, in particular WHITE GOD (2014) and JUPITER'S MOON (2017), takes it in stride to visualize a thought-provoking cinematic piece.
On the strength of Wéber's sober and distinctively female-oriented script, PoaW instantly takes audience aback from its daring gambit, before the movie's title crops up, Mundruczó virtuosically orchestrates a 20-odd minutes sequence to closely observe the aforementioned tragedy, a flurry of travails During a home birth, assisted by midwife Eva Woodward (Parker) and her partner Sean Carson (LaBeouf), Martha Weiss (Kirby) has difficulty in delivering her baby. When the bundle of joy is suddenly snuffed, the trio's lives will be forever altered . It is as visceral as one can (or at least, a male viewer can) relate to the oceanic pain a mother might endure during parturition, and cinematically, Mundruczó tries to reflect this simulated realism with a phlegmatic pace, DP Benjamin Loeb's hand- held camera is more steady than shaky in its serpentine routes,it is amazing how the camera's movement can be choreographed seamlessly on a dime.
Basically, PoaW is a drama about post-trauma re-adjustment, while it is mostly Martha's story to tell, Wéber's script adds an incisive layer by juxtaposing Sean's coping mechanism with hers, to probe into the gender disparity, a weak man like Sean has the leanings of relapse (of drug addiction) and cheating (after his action of resuming sex is foiled by a reluctant Martha, which shrieks to be one of the most unsexy sex scenes ever!). Obviously he can more quickly move on than Martha, who has to deal with both physical and mental remnants of the tragedy in her own sweet time, and sadly, Sean doesn't has the perception of being patient and tolerant, it's time to take a hike with some financial bonus he feels difficult to resist .
Ergo, Martha and Sean is a mismatch, a white collar-blue collar mismatch that doesn't have that critical “resonance”, which also begs us to ponder what Martha sees in such a man, that actually points up another, more important theme , Martha's anti-momism. Her choice of boyfriend, her decision of home birth instead of going to a hospital, are all angled at her affluent, imperious mother Elizabeth (Burstyn), to rattle the latter's cage, and now she has to face the disastrous consequences.
Very clearly, chiefly owing to Burstyn's powerhouse gravitas (her monologue of Elizabeth's own harrowing past is an awestruck achievement from this still incredibly spry octogenarian), Elizabeth is not a clichéd “monstrous mother”, her wisdom and candor is in equal measure with her domineering interference. And you bet Martha rues the day for not listening to her, otherwise why should she attend the trial of Eva? Elizabeth knows it is the only way to give her daughter a true closure, mother always knows best, even though she might not expect the exact epiphany that will dawn on Martha. Their eventual tacit reconciliation becomes such an emotional purgation, the apple never falls far from the tree.
Against his alleged ignoble reputation, LaBeouf's personal temperament abrasively chimes with Sean's inferiority complex and wounded masculinity; and Parker is magnificent as Eva, the scapegoat who practices a hazardous occupation and simply does her best in a very tricky situation. Parker has that impression of sublime goodness, it is a small role, but if we can buy Martha's final heartfelt magnanimity, it is also because Parker invests Eva with enough credibility during the labor scenes. Also, PoaW is most likely, Kirby's induction into the pantheon of Oscar nominees (she can even win), Martha's unforthcoming, interior processing of a mother's inconceivable grief is a crying personal business, but Kirby magnificently telegraphs every iota of that dreadful feeling of the unbearable lightness of being, and when she lets it rip,it is sheer piercing and riveting.
Formulating the time-signposting bridge-building metaphor of healing wounds and the apple seed-sowing hopefulness of a refresh start, Mundruczó and Wéber seem to find an apt approach to canal their own grief-processing baptism of fire and make a puissant film out of it, PoaW is a chilly affidavit of profound loss, but with a lush prospect on femininity and its unfathomable resilience.
referential entries: Kenneth Lonergan's MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (2006, 8.1/10); MARRIAGE STORY (2019, 7.8/10).
Title: Pieces of a Woman
Year: 2020
Country: Canada, Hungary, USA
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Director: Kornél Mundruczó
Screenwriter: Kata Weber
Music: Howard Shore
Cinematography: Benjamin Loeb
Editing: Dávid Jancsó
Cast:
Vanessa Kirby
Shia LaBeouf
Ellen Burstyn
Molly Parker
Sarah Snook
Iliza Shlesinger
Benny Safdie
Tyrone Benskin
Jimmie Fails
Frank Schorpion
Steven McCarthy
Rating: 8.1/10
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