Film: Heart of a Dog

The latest film from musician, film maker and performance artist Laurie Anderson, »Heart of a Dog«, dates from 2015, and is a meditation on life and death. In it, Anderson paints a loving portrait of her dog Lolabelle from its imagined birth out of her own body up to the rat terrier’s death. At the same time, the film interweaves in elaborate association important events from Laurie Anderson’s childhood with the American present since 11 September 2001, and with philosophical reflections on language and on the Buddhist concept of »bardo«, the 49 days of life after death and before the next life. In addition to documentary material and drawings and Laurie Anderson’s minimalistic music, her distinctive narrator’s voice makes a central contribution to the character of the film.