OSCARS 2021: Pieces of a Woman (2020)

In 2015, I got to see Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó's “White God.” A powerful and beautifully orchestrated fable about stray dogs rising up against their human oppressors, it became my favorite film of the year. I somehow missed Mundruczó's follow-up, the sci-fi drama “Jupiter's Moon.” However, I did catch wind of Mundruczó's most recent film, “Pieces of a Woman.” His English language debut, it was quickly scooped up by Netflix. The reviews wound up being pretty soft but Vanessa Kirby's lead performance was critically acclaimed. I was happy to see Kirby did receive an Oscar nomination, if only because I'm counting it as a net-win for my boy Kornél.

Martha, daughter of a rich woman, and Sean, a blue collar worker, are expecting their first child. Martha has opted for a home birth. The night she goes into labor, her preferred midwife is unavailable and another one is sent instead. The labor is difficult and, minutes after Martha's daughter is born, the infant dies. In the following months, Martha and Sean's relationship begins to dissolve. She donates the baby's body to science, despite the objection of her family. As the midwife goes to court, on trial after other babies she's delivered have died, Martha has to make a decision about how she feels.

“Pieces of a Woman” is, to me, a movie about navigating grief. After the trauma of loosing their child, Sean becomes volatile. He picks fights over details like the baby's autopsy or her tombstone. Martha, meanwhile, becomes distant. She systematically removes the cradle and other items they bought ahead of the baby's arrival. Her mom and husband are demanding that she deal with the loss in whatever why they prefer. The mother wants the baby to have a proper burial and blames her for the child's death. The world wants her to be angry at the midwife, to want her to go to jail. Martha remains steadfast in her insistence on grieving her own way. Because everyone handles the trauma of such a loss differently and everyone is entitled to that feeling. This is a simple enough message but a powerful one to see conveyed.

Mundruczó's film is also about the desolation of a marriage. All the hopes and dreams of pregnancy being dashed in moments is a trauma that not many relationships can recover from. While Martha retreats into herself, Sean collapses. He relapses back into his drug use, breaking a seven year sobriety streak. His attempts to initiate sex with Martha are awkward and frustrated. He begins an affair with his lawyer, coincidentally a cousin of Martha's. When he asks her not to pack away the things they bought for their dead daughter, it's the moment their marriage is completely over. Other factors push them even further apart before the movie is over. “Pieces of a Woman” shows us a love falling apart in slow motion.

In addition to being a passionate, feeling experience, “Pieces of a Woman” is also an impressive technical achievement. Early on in the movie, after a few opening scenes, Martha goes into labor. What follows is a twenty minute sequence shot in one continuous take. In this span of time, we see the elation of expectant parents – Sean cracking jokes to help Martha relax – curdle into anxiety. Martha is in pain and feeling sick to her stomach, signaling the complications to come. As the sequence goes on, the viewer grows more and more concerned. It's a fantastically constructed moment that goes through all the ups and downs of labor, finishing in the most nightmarish place possible. That Mundruczó holds off on dropping the movie's title card until after this moment puts an even stronger exclamation point on the sequence. 

Some people have actually criticized that show-stopping set piece, referring to it as gimmicky. The same crowd have also emerged to criticize the movie's use of visual symbolism. While riding a subway train, Martha eats an apple. She saves the seed and tends after them until they sprout. In the very first scene, Sean is shown working on building a bridge. Later, he talks about events that can cause a bridge to collapse. These symbols, of building and growing and connecting, point towards the hopes Martha and Sean had for their future. The hopes that are now dashed but can still be grown in different ways. Mundruczó' also reprises the sound of a heart – the heartbeat of Martha's baby – during a key moment. Maybe this is too obvious for some people but I found it to be powerful and meaningful.

The performances are excellent too. Vanessa Kirby is indeed heartbreaking and touching. Shia LeBeouf, expelled from the award season campaign on account of being a shitty person, is similarly raw and blustery as Sean. In an Oscar season where few films have blown me away, I was really surprised by just how touched I was by “Pieces of a Woman.” I guess the themes of loss and grief really got to me. Kirby is great but I wish the movie had gotten nods from the Academy in some other categories too. [9/10]