“The purpose of death is the release of love.” By internationally acclaimed artist Laurie Anderson, and dedicated to the memory of her late husband Lou Reed, this unusually dreamy and evocative documentary is a meditation on loss; exploring and tying together Anderson’s experiences of the deaths of Reed, her mother, and her rat terrier Lolabelle.
It’s told by Anderson in a lyrical voiceover, set against hauntingly beautiful imagery that includes her own artwork and home video footage and moves effortlessly between the abstract and the literal. Exploring our darkest fears: loss, grief, loneliness and death, Heart of a Dog investigates how to live through periods of intense emotion without being defined by them.