Heart of a Dog

Dir: Laurie Anderson

2015

**

Not to be mistaken for a satirical look at the communist revolution, Heart of a Dog deals with the heart that belonged to Laurie Anderson's pet pooch, who has since departed. In this part documentary, part essay on life, love and death, Anderson looks at the world using the relationship she had with her dog as a centre point. It sounds so much better than it is. I lost my first and only dog in 1990 and I was heartbroken, still am, so much so that I've never been able to replace him. He didn't play the piano or paint like Anderson's Lolabelle but he was my buddy and even though I've buried many a loved one, it was his death that I learned the most from. I don't get anything like that from this film, in fact, it left me feeling quite empty. Anderson didn't even train Lolabelle, she got someone in to do it for her. I have to be honest, and it will sound blunt, but I've always seen Laurie Anderson as someone without much talent who has surrounded herself with talented people. Everything she has done has been done before and done better. I didn't particularly enjoy (for want of a better word) Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking but it wipes the floor with Heart of a Dog. I can't criticize Anderson's thoughts and feelings, that would be ridiculous, but it soon becomes apparent that this film isn't the work of great idiosyncratic talent but just chosen segments from the Dhammapada. She chucks in a few minutes’ worth of how difficult it was to live in New York after the 9/11 attacks and muses on how this effects modern life but without any real conclusion to what she says, it just seems to be universal subject, something sensationalist almost, to throw in there to keep the audience awake. I hate the way the film is shot, it's fully of wobbly clips, poorly made home video and lots and lots of filler. Anderson seems almost proud of the fact it was all shot on her iPhone, hippies with iPhones, I don't understand that at all? I disliked the wishy-washy soundtrack also, although it fits the wishy-washy visuals. The movie is just 75 minutes long but around 40 minutes of that is pure filler. I love the concept but when you can't even convince an audience you genuinely loved your pooch then I'm afraid you have failed. I'm sure she did love her, it just didn't come through past all the sky, grass and blurry rainy windows.