Pieces of a Woman

Everyone says so, and everyone is right. The first thirty minutes of this film are really, really great. The remaining 95 minutes are a predictable melodrama. The camerawork is great, and of course Mundruczó has great style. Pieces of a Woman is well made; it's just that there's not much to it.

You know... the thing about dead babies in films – this is not quite as true onstage, but I think it is true of films – is that they're replaceable. It's easy to jump forward 2 years or 1 year or whatever, and magically, poof, there can be a baby. Or even a full-grown six-year old or whatever. It's just so easy. So the stakes just don't seem very high to me in a movie when someone loses a baby. The filmmaker can get you another one without any trouble; don't worry.

It is surprising that Mundruczó decided to direct something like this after directing the intense White God. I don't really understand that, but, well, as I will say it again: the first thirty minutes are really stellar.