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| Harold and Maude
A movie worthy of both cult AND classic status.
In one of THE original cult movies (4 years before ROCKY HORROR ; 7 years before BLOODSUCKING FREAKS) Bud Cort plays 20 year old Harold, a young man who has a morbid fascination with death. For leisure he drives his long-suffering mother mad by enacting fake suicides to get attention such as "hanging" himself and "slashing" his throat and wrists, much to the chagrin of Harold's pompous mother who sends him to see a shrink. A true believer in the old "mother knows best" adage, she answers and fills out the questionaire for her son. So its not that surprising when we learn that Harold drives a hearse and for leisure he attends strangers' funerals.BR>However, one such funeral changes Harold's life forever. Its at one of these gatherings that he first meets Maude (Ruth Gordon), a 79 year old who is not your average crocheting, cookie baking Grandma. For leisure Maude likes to steal cars. And from here their friendship grows, with the eternally optimistic Maude encouraging Harold to embrace life instead of dwelling upon death. Their relationship soon blossoms into an unconventional, but true love; which again meets with mother's disapproval. BR>Written ; Co-Produced by Colin Higgins, HAROLD AND MAUDE was unfairly overlooked on its initial release but over the years gained a strong following; and todays ranks as one of the very best black comedies/love stories ever made. Special highlights for me included Harold's efforts to escape being drafted into the army, and also Harold's hari-kiri "suicide" demonstration for one of the young women his mother has set him up with.BR>Both leads are excellent, especially Bud Cort; who was/is so convincing in his role that he found himself typecast for life- and some people really believed he was as "out there" as Harold in real life!! So poor old Bud was given the silver lining before the cloud! Hopefully one day some director will use his talents in the way he deserves. Ruth Gordon is hard to resist as Maude- she's probably the kind of Grandma every kid wishes they had. BR>Of course, the movie is also famous for the soundtrack by Cat Stevens which complements the film beautifully. If you haven't seen HAROLD AND MAUDE before then I strongly urge you to rent a copy. It's not for all tastes with its inconventional love story and its (often very) black humor; but this is one of those rare films that leaves you feeling alive and exhilarated after watching it and commands repeat viewings. Unless you're a P.C old prat who believes the "suicides" in the movie to be "injurious to the public good"(!!) and the idea of a 20 year old and an 80 year old being in love to be "immoral". (No prizes for guessing who I'm talking about). Maybe a little icky.BR>The DVD features aren't great, just a couple of different trailers for the film; but I can't recommend this movie highly enough. Put it on your must-see list. HAROLD AND MAUDE gets my seal of approval (Woop de doo, I hear you say) and despite being mor
Maude is my hero
"Harold and Maude" is not really a love story in the conventional romantic sense. It's more of a story about how one person can change another person's life just by being themself. Harold is a wealthy, bored, morose young man who gets his kicks by attending funerals of people he doesn't know and staging elaborate, fake suicides to rattle his mother. At one funeral he happens to meet Maude, another "funeral crasher". Maude, about to turn 80, is starting to wonder if her own death shouldn't be coming soon. The two quickly embark on a friendship (and, yes, even sexual relationship) which completely changes Harold's views on life. Maude is one of the greatest characters I've ever seen portrayed on film. At the same time daring and sensitive, childlike and wise, rebellious and spiritual, Maude is an elderly iconoclast whose fierce love of life has inspired her to free herself of almost all of society's restrictions. Frankly, she's my hero. At times touching, funny, inspiring and strange, "Harold and Maude" is one of my favorite films of all time.
bittersweetness of life
Harold and Maude is an insightful, comedic and touching view of two individuals who are seemingly polar opposites. Ashby, the director, reminds the viewer that in death there is life and in life there is death and having a sense of humor is the best, if not the only antidote to both phenomena.
As many have mentioned, with a few dissenters, this is truly a wonderful film, full of irony and paradoxes. One falls in love with the characters and thus the film. Cat Stephens' haunting music provides a perfect soundscape to a film that will hauntBR>your memory for all time.
Buy Harold And Maude at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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