Fight for life the wild at heart series by laurie anderson

#Fight for life the wild at heart series by laurie anderson movie

To me, that robs a person or an animal of an experience of their death.вЂќ WeвЂ™ll just knock you over the head with a brick. вЂњThe American medical approach is, вЂTry not to feel anything. The end of LolabelleвЂ™s life leads Heart of a Dog into an exploration of death, both from a Western and Eastern route. For the speed and to stick their heads out, for the wind in their ears.вЂќДЄndersonвЂ™s musings and observations all stem from this dogвЂ™s-eye view, which roams from New York City to California cliffs and into the great beyond.

вЂњDogs love us, but mostly because we invented cars. вЂњI chose dogs for the empathy,вЂќ she continues, gliding into the low, smooth storytelling voice IвЂ™ve been listening to on records for decades. TheyвЂ™re up on the refrigerator,вЂќ Anderson shrugs.

#Fight for life the wild at heart series by laurie anderson movie

(вЂњHe had вЂO SupermanвЂ™ on his answering machine for 20 years!вЂќ she tells me with a grin.) Anderson, whose only previous feature-length movie was the 1986 concert film Home of the Brave, is certainly working in a similar vein here. Heart of a DogвЂ™s credits include a thank you to legendary film essayist Chris Marker. Remember how that sounded? HereвЂ™s how it sounded.вЂќ You were really afraid, and these kids are dying all around you and theyвЂ™re screaming. вЂњYou know that story youвЂ™re telling?вЂќ Anderson asks herself. Other stories that float by include time spent as a child in the hospital after a spinal injury, and realizing that her usual, determined boasts (вЂњI knew IвЂ™d walk again, despite what they saidвЂќ) were masking realityвЂ™s actual horror. One of AndersonвЂ™s brothers asked her to transfer a box of old movies, and after unsuccessful attempts to shirk it off, she found images that reminded her of a key incident from childhood. The recurring description of her motherвЂ™s death is a variant from her stage production Delusion, but a climactic chapter came from dumb luck. The personal stories that emerge in Heart of a Dog got there via different paths. TheyвЂ™re short, because itвЂ™s not like somebody says, вЂTell me about your childhood in a shrink way.вЂ™ TheyвЂ™re meant to just be a postage stamp.вЂќ вЂњWhen someone says, вЂWho are you?,вЂ™ you have a couple stories that fall out from your childhood. вЂњThis is a film about stories and how you tell them,вЂќ Anderson explains. Why donвЂ™t you do that?вЂќ And thus this remarkably sweet, sad, trenchant gem about mortality and memory came about.

вЂњAnd If I did, I wouldnвЂ™t make it into a film and make you watch it.вЂќ Persistent, an exec countered, вЂњI saw some of those stories about your dog. IвЂ™m down there because, upon entering, it isnвЂ™t the singer/violinist/storyteller/filmmaker who first greets me, or the many unnamed extras floating about the pad (like the red-bearded dude sautГ©ing broccoli), but the yippy border terrier Little Will, an extremely personable and friendly pooch. Memories are literally strewn throughout AndersonвЂ™s sizable workspace, which she bashfully describes as вЂњa bit of a warren.вЂќ Her late husband, Lou Reed, immortalized its proximity to traffic noise in the peppy 1996 number вЂњHooky Wooky,вЂќ and itвЂ™s ReedвЂ™s framed Grammy Hall of Fame certificate for вЂњWalk on the Wild SideвЂќ sitting amidst a pile of ephemera that I catch at eye level when I crouch down to the floor. And, as it happens, a вЂњsearch through memoryвЂќ is exactly what her latest project, the essay film Heart of a Dog, is all about.

They were, naturally, still lying on my kitchen table as I sat with Anderson in the soundproofed recording room in her Canal Street studio. As a longtime fan of this polymath artist/entertainer-discovering her music via Peter GabrielвЂ™s album So and her performance work on PBSвЂ™s Alive from Off Center, then following her albums, theater, and visual art to places like BAM, MASS MoCA, and other capitalized institutions-I had a slew of brilliant prepared questions.

ItвЂ™s in reaction to my confession (and frustration) as an вЂњonly-humanвЂќ interviewer. вЂњSearch through memory,вЂќ Laurie Anderson jokingly instructs in mock sci-fi voice.