Heart of a Dog

Released Oct 21, 2015

1h 15m

Documentary

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List

96%

90 Reviews

Tomatometer

64%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.

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Critics Consensus

Of a piece with much of director Laurie Anderson's idiosyncratic output, Heart of a Dog delves into weighty themes with lyrical, haunting grace.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

The Blue Lenses

Like much of Anderson's work, Heart of a Dog takes the form of casually constructed, almost meandering reminiscences, while at the same time never losing its tightly structured focus and drive.

Aug 25, 2018

Full Review

Judy Berman

Flavorwire

... it restores a sense of calm to its subject without evading the most haunting questions.

Sep 21, 2017

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John Monaghan

Detroit Free Press

The film is often notable for Anderson's honesty.

Jan 10, 2017

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Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

It’s been seven years since the release of Laurie Anderson’s elegy for her beloved rat terrier Lolabell, Heart of a Dog, and its simple, mesmerizing beauty has stayed in my heart all this time.

Feb 13, 2024

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Michael J. Casey

Boulder Weekly

Heart of a Dog is a triumph and not simply in its love and candor, but in its calming ease that gently reminds viewers: no matter what, everything will be OK.

Aug 2, 2019

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Matthew Eng

Tribeca Film

Anderson is auteur, narrator, and guide, grasping our hands and settling us into her vast and gorgeous mind-scape through seamlessly-mixed media and an astonishingly enveloping sound design...

Apr 9, 2019

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isla s

I liked that this documentary film has quite an eery sound to it, a somehow supernatural, ethereal type of sound. The narrators voice sounds quite contemplative and so it has a laid back feel to it, while also sounding somewhat matter of fact as well. I struggled to think how to describe it visually but then the term scrapbook came to mind - it is like an artsy scrapbook of sorts, I say arty as there are elements of art the narrator has presumably worked on, which appear, like drawings, art installations and the like. Its a thoughtful documentary, covering some reasonably deep topics. There are some interesting quotes shown on screen. As someone who likes dogs, I appreciated some of the sentiments and enjoyed seeing the many dogs that appear on screen. There are philosophical moments present (with people such as Kierkegaard mentioned) and indeed some of the themes are more about humans than pets or dogs. Overall I enjoyed this - its a slightly surreal watch but it was a nice one all the same. Oh and watching the Jack Russell play the keyboard was really cute! (yes I did just say that). I suppose, aside from grief, you could say its primarily about love and hope, which is obviously more positive. Would I recommend it? yes I would, primarily to other fans of dogs.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

love her, but mostly hated this. her voice is wonderful, her words are emotionally charged and eloquent, and her music is amazing... but this film was so disappointing and too visually disjointed that it made it all just feel "ok". I can interpret the untold reasoning of why it seems so disjointed, but it just doesn't work for me. It ends up feeling like a giant, unfocused waste of time, with some sparingly interesting visual moments. I was expecting something much better than what I watched.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

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Audience Member

Your "art" is silly, like a child saying "look at me"

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

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Audience Member

Slow, meditative and almost dreamlike, this is one for dog lovers and Anderson devotees alike.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Audience Member

An arty type film and definitely not for me.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

I'm torn because on one hand I LOVE certain parts of this. The story about the hawks I first heard at her art show dedicated to her dog in the bardo and it made me cry. If this entire movie had been an hour long radio special I would have adored it. But visually it's really boring when she doesn't have clips of her actual dog or photos of her art going. Too much rain filters over bokeh lights for my taste. But there's good stuff in here and I appreciated it. All in all, inconsistent but good.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Laurie Anderson

Director

Jason Berg

Veterinarian

Paul Davidson

Farmer

Laurie Anderson

Narrator

Sasha Grossman

Nurse

Kurt Gutenbrunner

Chef

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Heart of a Dog: Trailer 1

1:50

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Synopsis

Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.

Director: Laurie Anderson
Screenwriter: Laurie Anderson
Distributor: Abramorama
Production Co: Canal Street Communications
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 21, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $418.6K
Runtime: 1h 15m

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