Pieces of a Woman

Opens on one of the most powerful long takes in recent memory, but not even the masterful performances by Kirby and Burstyn could save the dry 2nd and 3rd acts. Resolution felt incomplete. Kirby elevates an otherwise tough sit.

I almost never watch movies like these -- mega-drama releases during Oscar season. But in my first year reviewing on Letterboxd, movies like this appear so consistently in the "Popular with Friends" feed I find myself drawn to them.

And after forcing my self to watch PIeces of a Woman knowing I'd struggle, I think I'm going with my gut next time around.

I don't really have much to add to what's been said before. The birth scene is heart wrenching. The acting is phenomenal. Shia Lebouf's performance was so excellent I kept wanting to slap myself in the face reminding myself that he's a complete asshole.

But the bulk of the movie after the first act is just painful to sit through. Not because of the depressing subject matter. Nothing really gels.

Overall it felt like a jigsaw puzzle that was half completed.

Overall, this movie is pretty decent. I have to say that I expected a bit more but in the end I wasn't really disappointed. Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf were both great but there were moments in both of their performances that were just a little bit off. The highlight of the film has got to be its opening scene which is about 27 minutes long. This scene was absolutely incredible and highly salute them for their work. After that the movie goes up and down over and over again. It's meant to be sad and heartbreaking but I just didn't REALLY feel that when I was watching.

People are saying that this movie is fantastic for the first half and then kinda looses steam. I kinda of agree but I think that it is much more up and down than that. The opening is really good but is a little manic at time. This bothered me a little bit but then I got the feeling that maybe it was on purpose to sort of drag us into the feelings of the characters at that moment.

I do agree that this film does start to sag after the opening but it does have more peaks especially the scenes between Vanessa Kirby and Ellen Burstyn. The scenes in the later parts of the movie between them characters were so good to watch. It was just such a showcase of great acting.

One small thing I found Shia's character to just be unlikable but that may be the fault of Shia I don't know. He was just so boring and flat and terrible.

The film does look good and I think some of the small production design choices were really well thought out and I enjoyed the other little techniques that the film makers used to make it a little bit more Interesting.

The score was just a tiny, tiny little bit off for me. It was so close for me but when I was enjoying it there would be a turn and I would be like oh no that wasn't right.

The issues above are all pretty minor as I have one major one and that is the dialogue. It was so soggy. It was just like sluggish. Some of it was better than other parts but the clunkers were really just bad. There was a lot of "hi how are you" "I am good" "oh good me too" "that's good" "yeah that is good".

I think you could watch it for the acting and especially the first half and parts in the latter half.

Pieces of a Woman (2020) follows a woman who struggles to deal with the aftermath of a traumatic home birth. This film was a really beautiful film with a lot of heart and emotional. Such a brutally realistic portrayal of grief and I'm very happy i watched it.

I loved the cinematography for this film! The colour palettes were subtle yet very visually pleasing and all the shots were framed really well. The camera panning was good and I liked how it tracked the characters, especially in this birth scene. The extreme close-ups used helped to convey the characters' emotions to the max and were very effective!

The score was super melancholic throughout the whole film and immediately set the tone well. It was somewhat basic at points but I still found that it added a lot to the film and didn't really need to be 'unique' per say.

All the performances were strong, with some well written and intense dialogue. The characters felt so real. Vanessa Kirby was phenomenal as the lead and her acting during the birth scene was unreal! I thought Ellen Burstyn was great in her role too, as she always is! My only criticism is that I'd have liked to have seen more of Benny Safdie's character! Also, I wanted to mention that the casting of the sister was accurate and a great choice!

The film had strong themes of grief, and I found it to be brutally realistic in addressing such themes. I'm sure this is a movie many people, unfortunately, can relate to. Also, I loved the apple metaphor and it was beautifully addressed during the court scene, which was probably my favourite scene of the movie!

Lastly, the pacing was slow and steady, but managed to keep me engaged and interest through the whole duration! I was completely drawn in to these people's lives, and it left me wanting more!