By Venice Film Festival is well underway this week, buoyed by today’s world premiere of Pieces of a Woman. Despite strict social distancing measures, the event heralds the start of the festival season and I especially love this time of year for the whispers of new releases and first-looks at Oscar contenders. From what we’ve heard a matter of hours after its release, Pieces of A Woman is going to be one to watch.
Based on his shared experience with the film’s writer Kara Wéber, director Kornél Mundruczó (White God) tells a deeply personal story about a couple on the brink of parenthood. Kirby and LaBeouf (off the back of his recent Honey Boy and The Peanut Butter Falcon) play Bostonians Martha and Sean Carson, and today’s short clip shows them purchasing a new car, fuelled by the promise of a new chapter in life. However, their experience of a home birth at the hands of an inexperienced midwife alters their lives dramatically.
Pieces of a Woman is executive-produced by Martin Scorsese, and though it couldn’t be further from his offering of The Irishman last autumn, it looks just as compelling. The film has a brilliant cast lined up, including Molly Parker, Sarah Snook, Iliza Shlesinger, Benny Safdie, Jimmy Fails and Ellen Burstyn.
Variety has already offered resounding praise, calling it ‘the performance of Kirby’s career.’ With such a testimony, it’s impossible not to want to find out more, and I hope we may be able to catch a glimpse via this year’s NYFF or LFF.
Source: Deadline
