Saw Heart of a Dog (2015), a documentary directed by Laurie Anderson about the death of her dog. It's a looping, discursive film however, which touches on 9/11, dreams, memories, many deaths, and on her dog's short-lived musical career. It's terribly poignant and yet sometimes oddly funny. It grabbed my attention in the first anecdote, when Laurie is describing her mother's death. As Laurie narrates to us, her mother seemed to believe that she was at a party of some kind with animals, as she was drying. "Thank you for having me." Laurie says, and you cannot tell if she is talking on behalf of her mother or on behalf of herself and perhaps it is both.
The film is very sad, naturally, but is a good meditation on loss. It's composited together from a bunch of random shots of her dog, of her neighborhood, of old home movies. It's narrated by Laurie in a clear, precise tone, weaving together disparate threads of western and eastern philosophy, casually saying funny, tragic things.
It's a heartbreaking film, but in a gentle, soothing way, like talking to an understanding therapist about loss, or like reminiscing over memories of dead friends. Sad but nice, not melancholy, but wistful.
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