A LETTER TO TRUE
Directed & Written by: Bruce Weber.
Produced by: Nan Bush.
Director of Photography: Evan Estern, et al.
Edited by: Chad Sipkin.
Music by: John Leftwich.
Released by: Zeitgeist.
Country of Origin: USA. 78 min. Not Rated.
Narrated by: Marianne Faithfull, Julie Christie & Bruce Weber.

Director Bruce Weber’s letters to True, his youngest golden retriever, form the thin connective tissue in this discursive documentary. As the letters are being read in voice-over, True and the rest of Weber’s pack of dogs are filmed jumping into the ocean at sunrise and later undergoing acupuncture. (Several of the dogs have personal assistants listed in the credits.) Interspersed in this ode to man’s best friend is 1946’sThe Courage of Lassie, featuring a 14-year-old Elizabeth Taylor who is amazed to learn that even then she is someone’s God (in this case a dog’s). Randomly included are the home movies of Weber’s friend Dirk Bogarde (a corgi aficionado) and his male lover, as well as an interview with animal breeder Kelly Ammann and her family of hunky, shirtless sons. It’s Ammann’s belief that her farm animals, in reaction to 9/11, were silent because of their special sense. This leads to a black-and-white montage of New York City dogs to Blossom Dearie’s wistful rendition of “I’ll Take Manhattan.”

However, not all segments flow smoothly into the other. The film touches upon the detention of Haitian refugees, a tribute to both Australian surf clubs and Martin Luther King, Jr. Gravel-voiced Marianne Faithful narrates Stephen Spender’s poem “The Truly Great,” the meaning of which is overwhelmed by the accompanying visuals of two models frolicking in water. Finally, the film meanders back to a touching anecdote with animal-lover Elizabeth Taylor. The film will appeal to dog lovers and readers of Vanity Fair (to which photographer Weber contributes). But scenes of him writing individual letters to True become cloying. And because of its diffused focus, this glossy and self-indulgent home movie is only intermittently memorable. Kent Turner
September 8, 2004