Harold: "I like you, Maude."
Maude: "I like you, Harold."
Harold and Maude is an outstanding black comedy that reminds audiences the reason why films exist. In short, films exist to tell a story: a potent tale of characters who encounter a series of events that unfold during the film's running time. More importantly, films are worthwhile when they actually have a valuable me... read more
Description:This whimsical black comedy became a cult favorite, tapping into some inexplicable early 1970s zeitgeist. Harold is a rich teenager obsessed ... Full Descriptionwith slashed wrists, self-inflicted gunshot wounds, personal vivisection, drowning, hanging, and being burned alive--just to annoy his mother. Maude is a poor 79-year-old oThis whimsical black comedy became a cult favorite, tapping into some inexplicable early 1970s zeitgeist. Harold is a rich teenager obsessed ... Full Descriptionwith slashed wrists, self-inflicted gunshot wounds, personal vivisection, drowning, hanging, and being burned alive--just to annoy his mother. Maude is a poor 79-year-old optimist who has a peerless affinity for all things living. Together they attend strangers' wakes and find in each other a most unlikely romantic partner.
In the days before home video, when access to anything but first-run Hollywood movies was limited to repertory houses and college film societies, Hal Ashby's HAROLD AND MAUDE achieved cult status and became a surprise hit. In a broad sense, the film is a simple love story about how opposites attract--only, this time around, he's 19 and she's 79. Harold, played with deadpan humor by Bud Cort (M*A*S*H), is under extreme pressure from his overbearing mother, Mrs. Chasen (Vivian Pickles, in a performance that is a sheer delight), to enter the dating world. Unfortunately, the shy and morose Harold would rather spend his time attending the funerals of complete strangers. It is at one of these where he meets Maude (Ruth Gordon), who has the spunk and energy of a teenager. Maude is convinced that Harold needs to come out of his shell and enjoy life, so she brings him into hers. The taboo relationship between Harold and Maude, created by screenwriter Colin Higgins, embodied the spirit of an experimental generation guided by the mantra "If it feels good, do it." The love affair between the film's two eccentrics remains one of Hollywood's most unexpected, but tender, romances. The soundtrack, with songs by Cat Stevens, provides an effective thematic bridge as Harold crosses from extended adolescence into manhood.
"A unique, sharp & about as off-beat as you can get comedic tale of a May-December romance.
Or more specifically,
a May-December romance in which the two months used to describe the relationship are separated by about sixty years.
Harold and Maude is the kind of coupling that inspires plenty of comedic elements, not to mention a few mental pictures that will most likely make you go "ew".
"
ToonHead2102 added this to a list 2 months, 2 weeks ago
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Plot: Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.
Genre: Comedy | Drama
Director: Hal Ashby
Stars: Bud Cort, Ruth Gordon, Vivian Pickles
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