By Navya Sahay
Pieces of a Woman, loyal to its title, offers its audience subtle, poignant vignettes of a woman's life after her baby dies soon after birth. It does not claim to present the entire picture, or all the implications of the situation. Instead, it offers us piecesーpieces of her grief, pieces of her relationship with her mother, pieces of her deteriorating marriage and pieces of the apple she continues to eat as she stumbles across the rocky bridge of recovery. These may be mere glimpses into the complex human emotions that are involved in this kind of tragedy, but the glimpses are so carefully crafted, with such restraint, such dignity and such raw pain, that no one can doubt their authenticity.
Kirby's performance is a sight to behold. She has reincarnated the spirit of grief, of loss. The conscious restraint, her silences and sudden pensive looks all serve to only magnify the emotional depth of her character's experience. Already we the audience are indignant on her behalf. Everyone around her seems to want to talk, to tell her to seek legal compensation against the midwife who failed to give her a healthy baby. But Martha is silent. She is broken. There are sudden shifts, mood swings and fights that help show the frustration and deep sorrow Martha feels under the cold demeanour she presents to her family. We may blame her mother, we may blame her husband. But while we root for her, we can't help noticing that the film is an incredibly accurate portrayal of the way societies deal with grief. Even if we criticise her family for their insensitivity, it cannot be denied that this insensitivity is real and rampant in a society that has trouble accepting fragility and events beyond one's control. The film doesn't preach, it merely presents. Her mother is not shown to be exactly a villain, but rather a representative of the helplessness one feels when tragedies occur without any reason or hint. It is natural, not forced at all or pretentious in any way.
Pieces of a Woman is not an easy film to watch. It won't make you happy, it may even disturb you. But the hopeful note the film ends on shines a little light on the otherwise dark landscape it paints for us. Martha's address to the court is brilliant. She is sad, she is grieving, but she is happy that she got to hold her daughter once, even if it was just for a few seconds. She blames no one, she seeks no compensation. Why? Because she will always have the picture of her holding her daughter. She'll always have that piece of her forever. What this film does so masterfully, is that it shows grief as it is ー a cold, empty feeling that can destroy relationships at first, but really is just extremely deep sorrow that only wants to end its life and not hurt anyone. And Martha does get over her grief as the ending scene shows her playing with her daughter in the future.
The film doesn't shy away from difficult, ugly parts of this grief. It does show how it has a resounding impact on her marriage with her husband. However, I feel that the husband was shown in poor light, too much so. Why is it that he is painted as a bad person towards the end, who gladly accepts the way out of the marriage? In a way, the story seems to be implying that the grief of losing a baby is more so for the woman than the man. That may be the case, considering the woman is the one who carries the child in her own body. But that doesn't mean that men hoping to become fathers have no grief. Yes, the movie presents the husband- Sean's grief. But his grief makes him forceful, angry, a liar, touchy, etc. That may be just because of how his character is painted out, but I feel that such films should give fathers their due share. A father values his child just as much as the mother and perhaps we need Pieces of a Man to show that in a respectful light.
However, all in all, an excellent, moving film that touches aspects of our psyche we didn't even know existed. This film is a testament to the power of cinema, to the empathetic relationship it can potentially have with its audience. Pieces of A Woman is proof, incredible proof, of our still persistent humanity and of the potency that our art has to study the intricacies of the human heart.
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