Memoirs

Cameraperson gives Kirsten Johnson a chance to review her career as documentary cinematographer, displaying images and clips from her many films, going back to 2001. She has captured a frightful number of instances of inhumanity: sites of rape or murder in Bosnia, Wounded Knee, Tahrir Square, the World Trade Center, a Rwandan church, Afghanistan, and Liberia–as well as Jasper, Texas, where prosecutors display trial evidence of the dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. Images link some of the stories: A woman in an Alabama health clinic has torn jeans that echo the damage done to Byrd’s clothes. On occasion, we get images from Johnson’s own life–her twin children finding a dead bird, her mother showing signs of Alzheimer’s. It’s a portrait of Johnson’s world–our world, too–a world of grief and a sprinkling of hope. It’s amazing that one person’s life has touched all of these stories.

Laurie Anderson’s Heart of a Dog is narrower in scope, but moves just as deeply. The title subject is Anderson’s dog Lolabelle. Different breeds of dog have different personality traits, Anderson tells us: The German shepherd says, “I obey”; the poodle says, “Please love me”; and the terrier says, “Will it be fun?” Lolabelle is a rat terrier. Even late in life, after going blind, she seems to be enjoying herself, playing a toy piano for doggie treats.

But Anderson’s movie isn’t just about her dog. She is artist, composer, and musician, and for the film she draws on material from several of her performances over the years–dreams, stories, philosophy. Like Johnson, Anderson talks about her mother. At the beginning of the film, her mother is on her deathbed; at the end, Anderson is striving to remember a moment when the two of them connected.

At times Anderson comes across as arch and self-absorbed, as if to say, “I am making art now.” But overall the movie is touching and painstakingly crafted.

Cameraperson (reviews)
Directed by Kirsten Johnson
Running time: 103 minutes
DVD release date: February 7, 2017

Heart of a Dog (reviews)
Directed and written by Laurie Anderson
Running time: 75 minutes
DVD release date: December 6, 2016