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Heart of a Dog

Play trailer 1:50 Poster for Heart of a Dog 2015 1h 15m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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95% Tomatometer 88 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
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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Heart of a Dog

Heart of a 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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Critics Reviews

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas The Blue Lenses 08/25/2018
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. Go to Full Review
Judy Berman Flavorwire 09/21/2017
... it restores a sense of calm to its subject without evading the most haunting questions. Go to Full Review
John Monaghan Detroit Free Press 01/10/2017
The film is often notable for Anderson's honesty. Go to Full Review
Marya E. Gates Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) 02/13/2024
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. Go to Full Review
Michael J. Casey Boulder Weekly 08/02/2019
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. Go to Full Review
Matthew Eng Tribeca Film 04/09/2019
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... Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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isla s 09/03/2022 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. See more 07/15/2017 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. See more 03/08/2017 Your "art" is silly, like a child saying "look at me" See more 01/28/2017 Slow, meditative and almost dreamlike, this is one for dog lovers and Anderson devotees alike. See more 12/18/2016 An arty type film and definitely not for me. See more 12/17/2016 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. See more Read all reviews
Heart of a Dog

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Movie Info

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
Producer
Dan Janvey, Laurie Anderson
Screenwriter
Laurie Anderson
Distributor
Abramorama
Production Co
Arte, La Lucarne, 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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