Harold and Maude

Plot synopsis:
Harold Chasen (Bud Cort) is a young man obsessed with death. He stages elaborate fake suicides, attends funerals and drives a hearse, all to the chagrin of his socialite mother (Vivian Pickles). She sets him up appointments with a psychiatrist, but the doctor is befuddled by his case and fails to get Harold to talk about his real emotions.
At another stranger's funeral service, Harold meets Maude (Ruth Gordon), a 79-year-old woman who shares Harold's hobby of attending funerals. He is entranced by her quirky outlook on life, which is bright and excessively carefree in contrast with his morbidity. The pair form a bond and Maude shows Harold the pleasures of art and music (including how to play banjo), and teaches him how to "[make] the most of his time on earth". Meanwhile, Harold's mother is determined, against Harold's wishes, to find him a wife. One by one, Harold frightens and horrifies each of his appointed dates, by appearing to commit gruesome acts such as self-immolation, self-mutilation and seppuku. She tries enlisting him in the military instead, but he deters the recruiting officer by staging a scene in which Maude poses as a pacifist protester and Harold seemingly murders her out of militaristic fanaticism.
When Harold and Maude are talking at her home he tells her, without prompting, the motive for his fake suicides: When he was at boarding school, he accidentally caused an explosion in his chemistry lab, leading police to assume his death. Harold returned home just in time to witness his mother react to the news of his death with a ludicrously dramatized faint. As he reaches this part of the story, Harold bursts into tears and says, "I decided then I enjoyed being dead."
As they become closer, their friendship soon blossoms into a romance and Harold announces that he will marry Maude, resulting in disgusted outbursts from his family, psychiatrist, and priest. Maude's 80th birthday arrives and Harold throws a surprise party for her. As the couple dance, Maude tells Harold that she "couldn't imagine a lovelier farewell". Confused, he questions Maude as to her meaning and she reveals that she has taken an overdose of sleeping pills and will be dead by morning. She restates her firm belief that eighty is the proper age to die.
Harold rushes Maude to the hospital, where she is treated unsuccessfully and dies. In the final sequence, Harold's car is seen going off a seaside cliff but after the crash, the final shot reveals Harold standing calmly atop the cliff, holding his banjo. After gazing down at the wreckage, he dances away, picking out on his banjo Cat Stevens' "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out".

Tags: comedy, dark, cute, cult, psychedelic, humor

Review:
I first came to Harold and Maude from a suggestion from an eccentric friend who I thought I would humor by tracking down a 34-year-old movie.
Not that the list means anything, it didn't include DUMB & DUMBER the funniest damn movie ever made, but I agreed with this choice.Bud Cort is Harold, a morbid teenage boy neglected by his rich mother (Vivian Pickles), who spends her time trying to match him up with blind dates.
Some viewers may be disgusted at the thought of a teenage boy and an elderly woman being a hot item, but the idea and execution of it is more an act of respect and love for one another as people than an act of lust and romance, making this in my opinion the most romantic film of all time.
The self-destructive and needy wealthy teenager Harold (Bud Cort) is obsessed by death and spends his leisure time attending funerals, watching demolishing of buildings, visiting junkyards, simulating suicides trying to get attention of his indifferent, snobbish and egocentric mother and having sessions with his psychologist.
When Harold meets the anarchist seventy nine year-old Maude (Ruth Gordon) at a funeral, they become friends and the old lady discloses others perspectives of the cycle of life for him.
On the day of the eightieth anniversary of Maude, Harold proposes her but he finds the truth about the end of the cycle of life.The cult "Harold and Maude" was a huge success in Brazil for people of my generation with a refreshing and funny exposition of themes like death, love and life through the friendship and love of a teenager and a septuagenarian woman.
The performances of Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort in this weird love story are unforgettable and the soundtrack with Cat Steven's songs is another plus.
As was probably the case when the film was released, people would probably find the theme edgy, if not inappropriate.Such is the case with the cult film `Harold and Maude.' It openly explores themes of suicide, love, death and life with a fresh perspective.
However, Harold (Bud Cort)-a shy teenager with an affinity for death-meets his 80-year-old true love Maude (Ruth Gordon), not at a dance or social event, but at funerals.
In a way, this movie comes across as a bit dated in that time has indeed erased the '60s anticipation of The Age of Aquarius and replaced it with `Fight Club' desperation.However what the film lacks in reality, it makes up for in heart.
The film takes an unexpected turn with the introduction of Maude, a vivacious octogenarian who shares Harold's penchant for attending the funerals of strangers, but instead of being obsessed with death, she is obsessed with life.
Her unique outlook and interesting activities, which include grand theft auto, endear her to Harold, and the two kindred spirits form a close relationship, which eventually blossoms into romance.This may seem quite unbelievable (and frankly, disgusting) for a twenty-something to fall for an eighty-year-old, but through Ashby's beautiful, skilled direction and Bud Cort's and Ruth Gordon's wonderful performances, the love story is entirely convincing and quite beautifully handled.The humor, is as I said, to begin with, very black, but there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, particularly with Harold's methods of scaring of dates picked for him by his mother, and the reaction of Harold's family and friends to the news of his infatuation with Maude.
When Cameron Diaz's character in the Farrelly brothers' 1998 comedy There's Something About Mary describes Harold And Maude as the 'greatest love story of our time', she's not far wrong.
In a society that generally accept older men falling for younger women, to reverse that trend was extremely daring, especially back in 1971.Harold (Bud Cort) is a 20-something who feels isolated and disconnected with his life living with his rich mother who seems to only be concerned with finding her strange son a wife.
He seems doomed to life of morbidity until he meets 80-year old Maude (Ruth Gordon) who seems to share his passion of attending funerals.
The young girl screams in horror as Harold's mother sits embarrassed, only for Harold to appear next to her as if nothing happened.The relationship between Harold and Maude would probably be uncomfortable and strange in another director's hands, but with a fantastic script by Colin Higgins and a heartfelt soundtrack by Cat Stevens, the whole things is moving, profound and sweet.
Given that little resume of movie roles, he has forever won a place in my heart, as has this movie."Harold and Maude" is a modest little masterpiece from Hal Ashby, and deserves to be viewed as more than just an eccentric little cult hit appreciated by an elite few.
Ashby's film walks a tightrope between black (almost too black) comedy and sentimental (almost too sentimental) pathos, but manages to blend the two perfectly to produce something quite unlike anything else I've ever seen.Harold is a gloomy misfit with a morbid death obsession, who likes to stage his own fake suicides in order to win the attention of his dithery and oblivious mother (Vivian Pickles, in an uproarious performance).
He's got great actors in a great story, and he trusts both enough to stand back and let them work their magic.Ruth Gordon gives one of my favorite film performances of all time as Maude.
If I could think about life the way the character of Maude does in this movie, I know I would be a happier person."Harold and Maude" is a shining gem from the 1970s, and one of those movies I just have to watch every once in a while.
Harold, played by the criminally under-utilized Bud Cort, is the quintessential disaffected rich kid wanting to find some meaning in a vacuous life who hooks up with the devil-may-care Maude through their mutual love of attending funerals (Joyce's word 'fun-for-all' springs readily to mind in those scenes).
From Harold's unexpected antics - "sucide attempts," his mother's ignorance towards a son who would love nothing more than some attention from her, some bad blind dates and then there's Maude.It involves a lonely rich different type young man with too much apparent time on his hands and lacking a purposeful life.
After meeting Maude at funerals where he goes for fun, his life is opened up by this free spirited older women who shows him love in its true form (not in any cheesy way at all) and a well-lived life.It's so classic and quite funny - thoroughly enjoyable."A lot of people enjoy being dead.
They're just backing away from life" Maude says so many perfect quotes that define humanity and in fact Harold's life up until then.And the Cat Stevens soundtrack, so perfect, complete with feel-good catchy songs you can't help singing for days.
No, to be more precise, cinematic intergenerational romances remain conspicuous by their absence if the sexes are swapped the other way around.In this film, a young man with a death-fixation called Harold meets Maude, a 79 year old woman with a lust for life.
Bud Cort with his sickly pallor and bizarre eccentricities, such as driving a hearse and attending funerals recreationally, is believable as a lost young man, while Ruth Gordon makes for a genuinely alluring 79 year old.
Both films too have wonderful folk rock soundtracks and while Simon & Garfunkel edges it, Cat Stevens soundtrack for Harold and Maude is still a beautiful and perfect accompaniment to this great film..
The last fifteen minutes is not only gut wrenching and startling, it's also beautiful and necessary, as if the viewer wakes from the dream, too, and sees what was maybe impossible all along.Ashby pulled off a few well-received movies in his short career, including Being There (1979), and yet it is Harold and Maude that comes off as the most connected to its audience, and to the times, becoming a cult favorite.
Watch for searing, perfect performances by Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort as the titled characters, and also by Vivian Pickles as the mother.
If the opposites attract each other, there have not been perhaps more different in every possible way screen couple than 20 years old Harold (Bud Cort) and Maude(charming, clever, multi-talented Ruth Gordon, the Oscar winning actress and three times Oscar nominee for writing) who is just about to turn 80.
Harold's others hobbies are driving the hearse and to attend funerals where he meets one day a woman who will change his life forever, 79 years young free-spirit, rebel, and fighter for "Liberty.
Hal Ashby had made a series of memorable, intelligent, well acted films in the 70s, that included The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975), Bound for Glory (1976), Coming Home (1978) and Being There (1979) but it is "Harold and Maude" that has become the cult classic from the first days of its release and it more than deserves its status.
Hal Ashby's film about the attraction of opposites caught me by surprise, and I am grateful for it.Harold (Bud Cort) is a 20-year-old who seems to be afraid of the future, so afraid in fact that he spends a majority of his time thinking of and staging his own death.
At one of the funerals he attends, Harold meets Maude (Ruth Gordon) a 79-year-old woman with a thirst for life.
In a Woody Allen-esque film, Harold and Maude deals with death and the pointlessness of life in a beautiful way.
Finally after 2 viewing of this Film, It has gone down on the list of my Favs Now.Cat Steven's Music is a Big Plus to the Movie, Whereas the screenplay is Fresh and Unique.The Story Revolves Around Harold who Stages Suicide and attempts couple of times, his Life Being empty and then enter Maude a 79yr old woman shows Harold something he never dream of that is life and everything that follows..
Music as mentioned above is soothing and suits the atmosphere of the film.Hal Ashby has treated the script in a sensible way and its an example of Great Film making.Seriously Iv'e Enjoyed Harold and Maude..
Life and Death are explored in cinema frequently and films have been created juxtaposing the two themes years before this came out but none has had the ability to make the heavy themes be condensed in a neat little story tied by love.
I don't think this film feels like it needed a score because that would undercut the humor that this film has to offer.Bud Cort was superb as Harold as he was able to play a character who was emotionally and psychologically tortured, but also deliver the comedic timing that Ashby wanted from him.
An introverted young man, Harold, played by Bud Cort, has a morbid fascination with death, meets 79 year old Maude, played by Ruth Gordon, with same interests.
We all know the expression "like Harold & Maude", even if we haven't seen this great film.
Young Harold, eccentric, spoiled, suicidal, is almost the exact opposite of old Maude (brilliantly played by the ever-feisty Ruth Gordon), who is vibrant and full of life's spirit.Following the pair on their "outings" is both hilarious and provocative.
To see the fearless Maude playfully "deal with" irritating police officers, or responding to a suspicious priest whose car she had recently "borrowed", or to pose nude for an elderly ice sculptor, to ensure he retains the memory of the female body, or to simply rejoice in the beauties of nature, is an inspiration to viewers at any stage of life.Harold's countless fake suicides are hilarious, but he eventually meets his match in a young prospective "date" sent by a matrimony agency.
Those of us in the "flyover" states, contentedly munching our cake and participating in league bowling and working for a living, were profoundly mystified by this trend, particularly since films like "Harold and Maude," "Love Story," "The Graduate," etc.
Just as the music of Cat Stevens is laughably inferior to the intense, passionate, vibrant music of the time, like Marvin Gaye or the O'Jays or Aretha Franklin or Van Morrison, so is Harold and Maude an empty shadow compared to the truly great movies about alienation and struggle and injustice of the late 60s and 70s..
Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude attained cult status for its portrayal of a morbid youth who falls in love with a spirited woman not twice, but four times his age.
Maude teaches Harold about life and the two fall in love.I don't know why the film didn't get nominated for any Oscars to be honest its a real shame because it deserved one.
Neither Harold nor Maude really fits in to such a staid society, so they participate in their own ways, however unusual or problematic.I'll watch almost any film that Ruth Gordon is in.
He meets an 79 years old woman and connects with her in many ways."Harold and Maude" begins with a suicide scene which is powerful and haunting.
This film not only sets itself apart from typical lines of thought, it challenges the viewer to view life in a totally new lens.The success of this movie is not itself in the characters or the story but the underlying message of challenging conventionalism, spontaneity,freedom and the idea that we must make the best of the time we have on this planet and savor all the beauty around us.The film hits home because of it's effective usage of witty dialogue, interesting dichotomies, and it's thick, yet subtle suggestions about morale subjectivity.Amist the sexual revolution, as the film does mention, the film directly takes aim at social conservative values and pierces the foundation of what love 'ought to be'.
This film is a truly beautiful work that will stand the tests of time and be a constant reminder to us all to live life to the fullest and of the importance of true love.10/10.
Wonderful set design that evokes the 70's and earlier decades (Maude's home is full of character and memorabilia.)The film touches on so many subjects (being a misfit, youth, old age, war, politics, life and death) but for me the main theme is to enjoy life - even the bad stuff.
And that maybe for some of us the only way to understand the precious joy of life is to engage with those who are closer to death.Probably the finest soundtrack of any film entirely by Cat Stevens..
No wonder it's considered a "cult classic," which usually translates into "sick-movie-that-a-select group- of-sick people-love." In this case, it's a story of a 79-year-old degenerate ("Maude," played by Ruth Gordon) hooking up with a 19-year-old "Harold Parker Chasen" (Burt Cort).
A suicide obsessed young rich kid meets up with an eighty year old "free sprite" at a funeral - for someone neither knows - and starts an unlikely "love" affair.A bittersweet movie unlike any other that has been made before or since.
But together they find a little romance and bring out the best in each other, even if no one else can see that.Harold and Maude is possibly one of the most unique and original stories I have watched, it was so strange and off putting, yet it worked and became a masterpiece that any film lover would enjoy.
A film like "Harold and Maude" is precious in the way it teaches the value of life before it's too late...
The two wacky main characters, Harold (Bud Cort), a 19 year old boy is obsessed with faking his own suicide and Maude (Ruth Gordon) a 79 year old woman who enjoys stealing cars and joyfully riding around, but never forgets that in just a small time she'll be 80.
What I saw charmed me and affected me in ways that were both disturbing and wonderful.The story's pretty well accounted for:the romance between spoiled,death-obsessed malcontent teen Harold(Bud Cort)and breezy,life-affiriming octogeneraian Maude(stage legend Ruth Gordon, relatively fresh from her praised work on Rosemary's Baby)is something so refreshing and odd,so nervy and strange that we're near forty years since this show's bow and one could DARE studios to try and make a film like it and get no takers!
Not many films, if any, are able to effectively portray a relationship between a teenager and an 80 year old woman in a believable and endearing way; Harold and Maude is one such exception.
Ironically, Harold comes across his polar opposite, the kind and generous Maude (Ruth Gordon), a woman whom values life to a great degree.
For sheer audacity, you have to congratulate the makers of HAROLD AND MAUDE for taking such a chance on this black comedy material and making it work, largely due to the title roles played so perfectly by RUTH GORDON and BUD CORT.The highly improbable story is entertaining enough to let anyone dismiss the flaws of logic--a suspension of disbelief that must be had in order to enjoy the wacky tale of how two people from opposite viewpoints (not to mention different ends of the generation gap), meet and fall in love.Funniest sequences are Cort's various attempts at suicide in front of his pragmatic mother, who then decides she must match him with a suitable girl so he can get married.
Harold and Maude is one of those obscure movies that not many people see, but almost every one who does loves it.
Cat Stevens songs works perfectly for this movie.Harold and Maude GIVE US A WONDERFUL VIEW of life,we can choose how to live or to love no matter what, if I choose not to be...
Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort are perfect as Harold and Maude.
Ruth Gordon is brilliant as Maude and Bud Cort as Harold is right behind her.
"Harold and Maude" is an uplifting, inspiring film about living life to the fullest whether you are really at the beginning of your journey or near the end.
I agree that Cat Steven's soundtrack doesn't blend seamlessly into the film, but after several viewings, it's come to seem really appropriate to me.This movie is eccentric and charming, like the characters involved.