Pieces of a Woman (2020)
Directed by Kornél Mundruczó
When a young mother's home birth ends in unfathomable tragedy, she begins a year-long odyssey of mourning that fractures relationships with loved ones in this deeply personal story of a woman learning to live alongside her loss.
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3 films that influenced Pieces of a Woman
What critics say influenced Pieces of a Woman
Award-winning cinematographer Benjamin Loeb (see 2018’s “Mandy”) acts as the director of photography on “Pieces of a Woman.”
The film’s most notable element is the real-time birth which "Mandy" cinematographer Benjamin Loeb shoots in one long, unbroken take.
On the technical front, the home birth sequence of the film is executed in a bravura 27-minute singular take with the cinematography by Benjamin Loeb (best known for his work on Mandy ) and the sparse score by master composer Howard Shore both convincingly capture the moods of the characters as it floats when the mood is positive and becomes more sharp as the mood changes.
Thousands of words could be written alone on the subtle gestures every one of these performers do, whether it’s Martha rolling over to bite down on Sean’s forearm to cope with the pain, Vanessa Kirby’s intense body language (thousands of words could also be written on her incredible performance that is sure to open up any door in the industry the Mission: Impossible action star wants to be unlocked), the frantic moving around and changing of her body positions (all intimately captured with delicate camera movements from Mandy cinematographer Benjamin Loeb), and finally, the worst-case scenario itself.
This one will likely fall in the same discussion as Manchester By the Sea , a film so flooded with grief, it becomes difficult to reckon with its darkest moments.
Why, for example, does “Manchester by the Sea” work so well (and go on to find such an unexpectedly large audience), while HBO’s recent “This Much I Know is True” struggle and strain every step of the way, even with tip-top actors?
Unlike the camera trickery Sam Mendes implemented throughout 1917 to give the illusion of an unbroken take, Pieces of a Woman is a true exercise in camera fluidity.
Unlike in 1917, where director Sam Mendes used camera tricks to fool the viewer into believing the entire film was a one-shot deal, it’s the real thing in Pieces of a Woman (at least for those crucial 25 minutes).