Can you even imagine the pitch? It's a story about a 19 yr old who is obsessed with who falls in love with a 79 yr woman? It's comedy with fake suicides. It's a political statement. It's a love story. It's Harold and Maude.
Harold and Maude is the cult classic film directed by Hal Ashby in 1971. Filled with slapstick, dark humour, and existentialist drama it revolves around Harold (played by Bud Cort), who's obsessed with death, and begins pulls away from the life that his detached mother prescribes for him, as he finds septuagenarian Maude (played by Ruth Gordon).
One of Ashby's themes was to contrast the doomed outlook of alienated youth of the Vietnam era with the hard-won optimism of the Greatest Generation. Nihilism vs Purpose. What makes Harold & Maude classic, is that the same can be said about today, the theme is relevant today as it was then.
Ashby also made strong statements about the war in Vietnam throughout the film.
From the poignant conversation between Harold and Maude about the daisies, and the daisy turns into a military cemetery, to Uncle Victor and his discussion with Harold about going into the military. He also speaks loudly about the horrors of war in one of the most subtle ways in film. Just the glimpse of Maude's tattoo or her wrist is all that is needed. He did not need to exploit it to make his point. If H&M were made today, sadly there would be some huge dramatic scene about Harold seeing it with a emotional tour de force of Maude, that would be not for the movie, but more for the Academy.
Harold & Maude was one of the first indie films. To quote the AV Club. "The film is the birth of modern indie quirk, full of elements and attitudes that have now become cliché: Heroes who are more whimsical conceits than real-life, flesh-and-blood creations; an offbeat and slightly twee pop soundtrack (here by Cat Stevens); authority figures painted as stiff, clueless, and completely devoid of humanity; and some vague leftist political references thrown in for good measure." And you can see its influences on some of the indie directors today, such as Wes Anderson.
There is something dark and funny, when Harold tells Maude why he fakes his death, watching the police come and tell Harold's mother that he was dead. Watching from where he had been hiding after setting a fire at school, Harold watched as his mother fell over in grief. It's him telling Maude, “I decided then I enjoyed being dead.” that you can't help but grin about.
But at the heart it is an unconventional love story, finding the reason for why you are here, and living everyday fully. 
But now its your turn. What is it about Harold & Maude? What was funny? What's your favorite suicide attempt of Harols? Anything strike you and make you want rewind and watch again?
Friday, March 27, 2009
OMG Movie Club
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19 comments:
Harold and Maude is one of my moms favorite movies and when she bought it on tape (yes tape, not DVD...) and I watched it with her I had to agree with her that it's a great movie.
It doesn't seem that way from the decription on the back cover but it's really funny.
It starts off really good already with Harold faking his death yet again and his mom not even caring anymore. And then there's of course her filling out that questionaire for Harold with her answers.
I haven't watched it in a while so I'm not sure I remember every one of Harolds "deaths" but the one where the girl ends up stabbing herself is funny just for the fact that Harold really didn't expect that to happen.
For me the funniest things are Harold turning the car his mother bought him into a Jaguar/Hearse hybrid and the whole thing where he and Maude steal that tree. Especially the part where Maude tricks the police officer and they just take off with his bike.
I'm sure there are more scenes, but I can't remember them right now.
I never thought about the fact that Ashby only used a quick shot of Maudes tattoo to give her that history. It just seemed like the way he did it fit perfectly for the movie.
But you're right, these days there'd be a flashback or them talking about it for several minutes and it would completely ruin the flow of the film.
Harold is the one who keeps on faking his death, has a hearse and goes to funerals just because he's so obsessed with death, but Maude is so full of life.
That's why I find it so interesting that Maude approaches her own death so matter-of-factly (because obviously 80 is the age you're supposed to go) and Harold ends up being the one who is devastated by it.
That was a long post, but I really love that movie.
And I love that song as well, so thanks for palying it, Special.
I thought the movie was really good. The fake death scenes had me on the floor laughing for some reason. Maybe because Harold got such weird pleasure from it. The one where he chops off his hand in front of his "date" was my favorite. He gets such a devilish looks on his face when she runs from the room. I like the fact that a woman at the end of her life teaches him how to start living his. There's something very poetic about that. I had to rewind the car crash scene at the end because I really thought he was IN the car. yikes!!
Kind of a strange ending but I would like to think it meant that Maude had a good effect on him in the end.
What's your favorite suicide attempt of Harols?
The hanging.
The hanging is always the one I remember the most. And I always thought that scene with Veronica hanging herself in Heathers, was little shout out to Ashby.
I haven't watched this movie all the way through since college, and I remember really liking it, but I was just really blown away by it when I watched it earlier this week. My memory was that it was just this funny odd cult movie that I thought maybe I'd find I'd kind of outgrown. But I found that seeing it now that I'm much older that it just had so much more meaning for me, and I was really struck by how much is really going on: the politics, life, finding love where you can. I also think it has aged really well.
The 70s imo really were the last golden age of cinema. You're right Special, a movie like this would never be made today. Even independent films today I find often have a sameness to them, often not very deep, and not subtle in the least.
My favorite suicide is probably a toss up between the swimming pool and when he sets himself on fire while his mom his talking to his arranged date.
There were several things that I feel later films have done as homages. I just remembered one of them. The uncle with the missing, stiff arm reminded me of the arm on the constable in Young Frankenstein.
Well, ol' Day Late & a Dollar Short again here. Everyone's gone & I just arrived at the party. We're waiting for the BIG SNOW!! I reckon I'll wake up and it'll be all white. HEAVY SIGH.
Okay, well, I think I'd have to watch this one several times to get it all. I found the first suicide attempt scene kinda sad, the next one the worst, but then the rest of them got funny. What I want to know is how on earth did he survive that hanging? He kicked the stepstool out from under his feet and seemed to be really hanging there. I thought he was really pulling a prank, but after hearing him talk to Maude about how he got started doing these things, I wondered if he really was serious. I still don't know for sure. And the scene in the pool. He was holding his breath. So did he tread water until he saw his mom coming and then float face down, holding his breath? That's a long time to try & hold your breath. As you can tell, I got all distracted trying to figure out the logistics of these attempts.
I think that scene where Harold was demonstrating hari kari (sp?) and then his date plunged the knife into herself for real was funny. It was just so ironic and, Stubborn, I agree, the look on Harold's face was great.
I like the way Harold & Maude connected. There's just some unexplainable ways that people just connect and I think that's just one of life's mysteries and blessings.
She was certainly good for him. I didn't understand her taking the pills. She really did hurt him, although he seemed okay at the end. I thought he went over the hill, too, Clarity. Then they showed him playing his ukelele, or whatever that was.
I didn't like the ending. And the only other thing I didn't like was the scene where I guess they went to bed together??? I want to know how old Harold is supposed to be in this movie. That scene was just, I don't know, too weird for me.
And I liked the music. I loved the opening number. I cracked myself up when I restarted the movie & saw in the opening credits that Cat Stevens did all the music. LOLL! I remember saying the other day That sounded like Cat Stevens singing the opening song. Well, no duh. I think I may've been brushing my teeth when that credit was on the screen & didn't see it.
Well, that's all I have to say about it right now. Just first impressions.
Yes they do PG, and that's why it still shocks. I don't think anyone could make anything like it now, it would become schmaltzy and self-referential. Then there would be public enquiry about its likely corrupting effect not to mention interviews with real-life Harolds and Maudes. Where was I ... more than the suicides and the wacky scenes, I love the connection between the protagonists. Maude dancing by herself is my favourite scene. Wonderful, disturbing film.
We're waiting for the BIG SNOW!!
I'm jealous. It's raining here, which will not be good for the cherry blossoms. Haven't had time to watch the movie because I've been watching figure skating WORLDS! :)
Good luck with all that snow PG. Its raining alot here too Wicked. It sucks when you have errands to run outside.
I have to mention the car chases in the movie because they are just too funny. I love how Maude drives around the one cop and almost wrecks his bike. Talk about a woman on a mission : D
Maybe that was the connection between them. Seems like they really enjoyed freaking people out. I agree that this type of film wouldn't go over to well now. Most would take it too literally and miss the overall message I think.
One scene I love is when they are sitting at the edge of a hillside that is covered with daisies. Harold comments that the daisies all look the same, and Maude objects, saying that a daisy is a beautiful thing, telling how each is unique and wonderful and that it's tragic that so many people are really "like this" (holding up a daisy) but allow themselves to be "treated as if they're that" (gesturing to the field of nearly-identical flowers).
Destiny - you're so right about the Young Frankenstein - good catch
Wes Anderson has been so influence by Ashby and Harold & Maude he wrote a part specially for Bud Court in Life Aquatic and has used Cat Stevens songs in few times.
PG - Harold is 19
Heard that you are still waiting for the snow to come.
This movie seems the kind of Indie movie I love with particular atmosphere lol
I feel a bit stranger since I have never seen it but for sure your comments make me like it and I absolutely want to know more.
I am sure I saw the first pic you choose somewhere else, the boy's face remind me something. Surely in a specialised book about cult classics I don't know...
I love this kind of relationship between two human being that everything seem to oppose and yet end up realising it's maybe not the case and connect whatever the differences.
It's difficult to talk about characters's psychology ,having not seen the movie , but I would like to know more about Harold, he seems a bit disturbed, but what kind of young guy he is?, are there similarities between him and an other kind of characters as Donnie for instance? (Maybe I am completely out of this character's understanding lol)
Destiny - you're so right about the Young Frankenstein - good catch
I love Young Frankenstein.
Elinor, your wondering about similarities between Harold and Donnie is really interesting. I hope someone who has recently seen the movie can speak to this.
Young Frankenstein is my all-time favorite comedy. Not a wasted frame. And I feel the same could be said about Harold and Maude. A very breezy 90 minutes, no filler. That's something I really don't like about most comedies today, they're pushing two hours in length, and honestly, most of them sag in that last half hour too.
Other things I loved about this film, the way they didn't really give us any explanation of what these people's lives were like before we see them, other than subtle touches like the tattoo on Maude. Today, even with independent film makers, you'd get some big scene explaining both of them, you know the type of thing, like making Maude a widow who sadly lost her only child, and some long speech about what Harold's family did to him.
I also really liked the way Ashby shot the shrink scenes, he always started by showing you the backs of the chairs.
The ending. I like the ending, as shocking or disturbing as it is. Maude lived life to its fullest, and I think had a real understanding of what death is. I think she wanted to chose her death, just the way she was choosing the way she lived, and she wanted to go before things really broke down.
By dying Maude also taught Harold to love life. My sense is this was the first death he'd experienced, or the first that emotionally affected him. Only by understanding that can Harold appreciate life and want to live. Sending his hearse over the cliff was a symbolic way of sending death over the cliff too, for the moment. I don't think after this Harold will be faking anymore suicides.
One possible influence on DD, Harold and Donnie have a similar look on their face, kind of blank, seemingly unfeeling looks on their faces a great deal of the film.
Good point, Destiny. I never thought about Maude's death being the first to actually impact Harold. There he went & attended all these funerals and I believe he was probably fascinated by the grief exhibited by the people in attendance. But, like alot of young people, had not been affected by the loss of anyone close to him. It's too bad he had to lose his friend, though. But, as a pastor pointed out so pointedly in a memorial service, that is how we know we have loved, when we hurt so badly.
Harold is definitely a proto-Donnie. I wonder if Jake used it?
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3/28/09
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A couple more things about Harold & Maude.
Meeting at a funeral that neither of them knew the deceased, didn't make sense at first, but getting to know the characters more it does.
And when Harold gives Maude a necklace he's had engraved with the words "Harold loves Maude", she throws it into the nearby water, and then says, "So I always know where it is." It doesn't make sense to most people, it make perfect sense when you think about it.
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