PIECES OF A WOMAN. REVIEW.

If I was pregnant, I wouldn't watch it.

I'm a birth filmmaker, so I'm going to analize this film in two ways: first as a filmmaker and then as a birth worker. On the first aspect, I think is a great movie. The cast is absolutely wonderful, specially Shia LaBeouf and Vanessa Kirby. They perform incredibly well.

I loved the aesthetic of the film: the framing, the color composition, the photography, the sequence shots. It's kinda nerve wracking the whole birth scene, when you know something bad is going to happen, but you don't know when or how. So, I love the film, I think is a true work of art.

On the birth worker role, I have a different opinion. I didn't like it at all. At first I thought the labor scene was really true to reality, but then I noticed how fast it was going and, let's be honest, it does not happen THAT fast. I know while doing a movie you have limited amount of time to use but, come on... from 6 minute apart contractions, to water break, to 6 cm dilation to push it might take a while longer than what they're showing. Although I have to say that the actress was so amazing playing her part, burping, going through the waves I could totally recall the births I usually document.

Let's talk about the midwife now, shall we? Again, flawlessly played. Same tone they use, same things they say, same everything except for the fact that she was portrait doing a lot of things wrong: not getting consent to check mom's cervix, not checking tones while in the bathtub and other things that a midwife won't do. And last but not least, she was at the home birth by alone. I've never ever seen a midwife at a home birth by herself. And there's a reason for that. I think (and it makes me angry) that the people that did this movie were trying to make a point about home births. Even when the theme is centered on a lawsuit against the midwife, they were actually trying to show that a home birth is not a good idea and that if there's anything that can go wrong, it will. And guess what, your family is gonna fall apart. Not because the awful tragedy of loosing a child, but because you're so incredibly selfish to have your baby at home. And if this isn't enough, they will show you that the mom, who was selfish enough to not want to give birth at a hospital, ends up being this cold bitch, who doesn't cry, who goes back to work in no time and who can't comfort her partner so he leaves her.

So... it made me sad to see this -not so- hidden message on the movie. Home births are chosen for a reason and guess what, they usually go way better than hospital births. Accidents happen, of course. But this film is trying to portrait that accidents WILL happen, and that's not true.

Also, I'd like to add the importance of having a camera during birth. Not only for the extremely heartbreaking reason that's shown on the film, but because there's a lot you might want to re-live after birth: your first glance at your baby, their face, how their skin looked, your partner's reaction, the first word you said...

I'd love to know your opinion about the movie, so if you'd like to make this blog kind of a debate room, be my guest.

Photo source:https://ew.com/movies/movie-reviews/pieces-of-a-woman-review/