Review: ‘Heart of a Dog,’ Laurie Anderson’s Meditation on Loss

Life's too short to watch something so depressing, but then again not a Laurie Anderson fan, clearly others love this documentary but this was not my thing.

Knew nothing of this till I saw it on HBO last night--and fell in love, and at least twice into tears at its truths about how love and memory work, both because of and despite ourselves. Wonderful--as was Manohla Dargis's review.
HEART OF A DOG must be seen!

Survived my college years in Boulder listening to Laurie Anderson cassettes. Took my dad to see 'Home of the Brave" in Denver in '86. On 4/18/2008 (I carry the ticket stub in my wallet), I stepped out of line to have a smoke in the alley behind Boulder Theater and saw Lou stepping in the back door to Laurie's show. (It was also their wedding day.)

Tonight I took my semi-reluctant 13YO daughter to see Heart of a Dog in Denver. Laurie is like an old friend - a རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ of mine in her own right and I hope to keep her in our family.

Just noticed poster last night for this film at our wonderful Palm Theater in San Luis Obispo, coming soon. I think Laurie Anderson is a brilliant, creative, multi-talented amazing woman. Great review, here. Thank you. I'm going to catch the movie regardless of reviews, but pleased to read such a sensitively written one. Now I'm going to have a talk with my Jack Russell; haven't figured out how many words in his vocabulary yet, but similar breed as Rat Terrior.

I absolutely can't wait to see this. So few movies interest me these days.

It is an oneiric film. Beautiful and introspective. A sort of meditation on life and death and many things in between. An anti cinematic film and yet she pulls it off. I loved the voiceover format over "off" angle and "unrealistic" images. A sort of meditation. Ms. Dargis' review does it full justice. I'm even surprised since she tends to like action films, more kinetic and conventional stuff. Perhaps there are other sides to Ms Dargis.

I saw this movie at the New York Film Festival and thought it should have been the Opening Night film (rather than "The Walk"). Anderson's film would have been so much more appropriate. Pity that her name doesn't have the cache to be a big headliner. It was my favorite film at the NYFF and it inspired me to finally start a blog and write a review. Dargis' is a beautifully written review, and I'm glad to see the NYT giving the film the acknowledgement it deserves. For more reasons why to see this movie, or to discuss it further:
http://helenhighly.com/laurie-andersons-heart-of-a-dog-review/

Gorgeous movie and beautiful review. The film inspires, despite being 'about death.' Anderson conveys sadness with cinemagraphic ingenuity. In my review, I wrote “It seems the movie is often shedding its own tears… as if life itself is crying.” And yet it is not even remotely maudlin. I invite you to read my review and share your thoughts: http://helenhighly.com/laurie-andersons-heart-of-a-dog-review/

Interesting, weird, depressing. Just the kind of movie film critics fall all over themselves praising.

I've been a fan of Laurie Anderson since I was first introduced to her back in college, with her album The Ugly One With The Jewels. It kind of blew my mind at that time in my life. So many profound ideas, thoughts, and vivid stories... I think I listened to it so many times, I had it memorized. Lines from it still drift randomly into my head to this day, such as, "When they say we have to do this by the book... you have to ask, What book?" I look forward to the film. And ALSO very much appreciate this review, which is probably one of the more beautifully written pieces about a film that I've had the pleasure of reading.

I'm glad that Laurie Anderson made this film, if only because it allowed Ms. Dargis to write this beautiful review. I look forward to seeing it.

I've always enjoyed Laurie Anderson's work. Her dream like vocals and the bizarre threads of song really take me away. I hope her film lives up to her unsurpassed audio talent.
After Lou Reed's death, I was quite surprised at the number of comments and assessments of him as a jealous, neurotic, obnoxious, and thoroughly unpleasant individual.
I don't know why that bothers me, but it does.

And the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog, which has not been mentioned?

"Heart of a Dog," a film directed by Laurie Anderson, reviewed by Manohla Dargis. Oct. 20. I mustn't call "Heart of a Dog" great film without seeing it, first, and just because, at its core, it's about many losses, including that of a beautiful dog.( I love dogs, all dogs. All animals.) I wanted Ms. Dargis to say that, as auteur, in her film, Laurie Anderson, after gently treating us to the circular motions of her life of love, beauty, and losses, ceases to be a participant, and plays, unobtrusively, the role of an uninvolved witness of a metaphysical puzzle, in which presences and absences, gains and losses, hope and despair, and loves and losses all roll into one incomprehensible spectacle. But Ms. Dargis doesn't say that. So I must reluctantly say,
as it is, "Heart of a Dog" feeds the senses, but not the soul. But still, it's lamentable there's only one Laurie Anderson.

Not to be churlish, but the vast majority of us didn't have the choice to escape to a bucolic paradise and remained to pick up the pieces after 9/11.

This is a beautifully written review. And yes, I love Laurie Anderson.

Almost 20 years ago, I was seeing a man I cared about but felt there were too many cultural/intellectual gaps between us. He could not understand why I could not listen to loud top 40 heavy metal noise and I finally played Lauri Anderson's The Ugly One With The Jewels for him as an example of music I liked. He listened in silence and struggled for a comment, finally saying "I didn't know she sang, but I really liked her on WKRP.' I knew then there was no point in continuing...

If the movie shows the dog dying, I'm not watching it. No way.

How does one get to see this movie, it sounds beautiful and fascinating. But nowhere in the article is it mentioned about the venue. That seems peculiar. And frustrating, because this sounds like a must-see movie.

For many years, every time I went to the theater, a concert, or a movie, Lou and Laurie were always sitting right in front of me. I thought of them as my stalkers. Once, at a Rufus Wainwright concert, I looked around and said to my friend, "I can't believe Lou and Laurie aren't here." And he pointed four rows down, "No. They're right there."

Lolabelle sounds beautiful.

I first heard of Laurie Anderson back in the mid 1980s when a friend took me to see her in Ithaca, NY. Until then, I prided myself on my "hard science" outlook on life. But her wonderful voice echoed through my head, then my heart and finally to my soul and I was forever changed. I have loved her ever since.

I remember Lou Reed walking Lolabelle in Hudson River Park.
There I was, lucky enough to live in the West Village and see the big dark Lou Reed walking his little dog.
That's an image I take with with me wherever I go.

It's good to know Ms. Anderson escaped to NoCa after 9/11.
I too escaped to SoCa.
I arrived just in time to see the beauty of the sun glistening on San Diego Bay.
My brain could not adjust to the image of such beauty after being witness to such horror and I fainted.
I awoke to my Mother saying to me "Are you alright?" My Mom passed a few months ago and yet I can still hear her voice asking me "Are you Alright?"
These are images that comfort me as I proceed ahead.

Even though Ms. Anderson and I don't know each other, we lived near each other in the Village and we both escaped to our respective NoCa's and SoCa's.
It comforts me to know that Ms. Anderson and I fleeing to the Ca's make for good survival symmetry.

Yes. We can all proceed ahead separately together.

I don't see why more people don't have Pembroke Welsh Corgis. I really don't.