It's the cinematic sensation of the start of the January school year. No need to wait for the release of Pieces of a Woman in theaters to discover this jewel of marital drama signed Kornél Mundruczó , worn by the extraordinary duo Shia LaBeouf and Vanessa Kirby .
A conjugal melodrama by Kornél Mundruczó
Netflix seized the phenomenon of author phenomenon produced by Martin Scorsese by buying back its rights just after its screening dubbed at the Venice Film Festival . For the greatest pleasure of our evenings under curfew in need of arty sensations.
Far from these usual fields of exploration, the beloved Hungarian director of Cannes ( Un Certain Regard Prize for White God ) radically changes universe with this intimate tragedy written with his wife, the playwright Kata Wéber .
Welcome to the East Coast to a hipster couple's bohemian home. Martha, a pretty blonde from the Boston high society, is about to have a baby with Sean, a handsome bearded master builder in bridge construction, annoyed by financial power and unloved by his beautiful - castrating mother, masterful Ellen Burstyn ( Requiem for a Dream , The Exorcist …). Not rich enough, not strong enough, not smart enough for this Jewish camp survivor who dreams of excellence for her offspring and ward off intruders without qualms.
The birthing scene: a cinematic slap
The first scene of 25 minutes, masterful performance, is a slap in the face. Martha decided to give birth at home. From his first contractions, Sean calls the midwife for the arrival of the happy event. Already busy, she sends another.
Camera on the shoulder, Kornél Mundruczó captures this painful childbirth in the intimacy of the couple, with a realism and emotional density of such accuracy that he manages to raise the tension without exaggeration and highlight the drama.
The baby with heart failure will not survive. The opening credits scroll. He leaves a distraught man and a heartbroken woman in a freezing winter.
Vanessa Kirby, a major English actress
We had discovered the British actress, imperial young Margaret, in the series The Crown . In Pieces of a Woman , which won her the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival , Vanessa Kirby shines in sobriety. Despite an impetuous character and a big mouth, not really in the mold, the character of Martha is revealed all in subtlety, far from the hysterical clichés that could have hovered around this grieving mother. Pain without sharp anger or the desire to find blame for its tragedy.
It is also the fragility of a couple that highlights the realization, which despite a sincere and solid love, is wrung out. The ordeal brings out all the flaws in their “ team ”, starting with the impossibility of sharing mourning.
There is the need for solitude for Martha, the need to commune with the loved one for Sean, overwhelming in his despair, that we watch go down towards all the wrong paths… In short, it's the story of mourning of a child who did not have time to live, but above all that of a difficult rebirth.
Pieces of a Woman , on Netflix from Thursday, January 7
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