Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf in "Pieces of a Woman" by Kornel Mundruczo -

Netflix

  • "Pieces of a Woman" follows the return to life of a young woman who loses her child during childbirth, filmed in a way that is as trying as it is impressive.

  • This first American film by Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo, co-produced by Martin Scorsese, could win an Oscar for British actress Vanessa Kirby.

The moving Vanessa Kirby, well known to fans of

The Crown

series

and the

Fast and Furious

saga

, delivers a dazzling performance as a future mother devastated by the death of her baby in

Pieces of a Woman

, available this Thursday on Netflix.

The British actress was rewarded this year at the Venice Film Festival for her performance, to say the least, exceptional.

And we are already whispering that she would have all her chances at the Oscars, so much she radiates between Shia La Beouf as an outdated husband and Ellen Burstyn as an authoritarian mother.

A dazzling first scene

For his first American film co-produced by Martin Scorsese, Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo (

White God

) spares neither the actress nor the viewer.

The film begins with a 22-minute sequence of the heroine's nightmarish childbirth.

"This first scene was essential to put the public in the shoes of the heroine," the filmmaker confides to

20 Minutes

.

He had to be able to identify with her to understand how she felt and how she was going to rebuild herself.

It is in collaboration with the screenwriter and playwright Kata Weber that the filmmaker, accustomed to international festivals, has developed this great staging moment.

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Not having had a child herself, Vanessa Kirby has seen many documentaries, got advice from midwives and has even been able to attend a childbirth.

The spectator really has the impression of sharing her ordeal as she cries, swears and suffers the thousand deaths in front of her husband and her midwife powerless to relieve her.

Two days and thirty takes were necessary to achieve this piece of bravery.

After the drama, the rebirth

If only for this first scene,

Pieces of a Woman is

worth the detour.

But, if it begins on a tragic note, this beautiful story of rebirth evolves on a more optimistic note when the young woman takes back her destiny in hand.

"The film speaks of resilience and pays tribute to the strength of women," insists the filmmaker.

The spectator becomes attached to this heroine whose reconstruction he follows.

There

is nothing depressing about

Pieces of a Woman

.

On the contrary, we come out galvanized by the power of the character.

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  • Delivery

  • Shia Labeouf

  • Martin scorsese

  • Netflix

  • Cinema