Harold and Maude
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Movie Reviews of Harold and Maude
Movie Review: In my All-Time Top Ten
Summary: 5 Stars
The editor's review of this film is a fair enough description of the plot. One should add that, despite being made in 1971, the movie manages not to look dated, precisely because it makes such fun of the early 70s style, and that the acting by the three main characters (Harold, Maude and Harold's mother) is simply inspired. Ruth Gordon is splendid of course, while Bud Cort gives a lifetime performance, but it is the portrayal of Harold's mother by Vivian Pickles (what a splendid name for someone in the role) that has to be the most undercelebrated aspect of this film. Her breezy blitheness, outraged exasperation, and British sensibility are all just too wonderful. Filling out a dating questionnaire for her son, in response to the question "Do you find the idea of wife-swapping offensive" she answers, "I find the question offensive." In response to the question, "Do you feel the women's liberation movement has gone too far," she replies, "It cer-tain-ly has." Even "Harold, eat your beets" is delivered so wonderfully that it's memorable. Eric Christmas also makes the bit-part of a priest into something memorable, principally by one splendid monologue.
NOTE: It's been pointed out that a lot of the plot is given away in the following. It's hard to say how much spoilers actually spoil this movie; spoilers may help to make the movie's wisdom more readily apparent on a first viewing. In any case, there are several ahead.
But is this really a black comedy? Personally, I think of black comedies as being morbid and mordant, which Harold & Maude certainly has elements of, but also ultimately cynical. One should not mistake grimness in a film as a sign of nihilism; as the Japanese proverb runs, the ending is all-important. The film ultimately is not about an intergenerational love affair (surely the most "shocking" aspect of the film), but about Harold learning to embrace life. And it is precisely to make as effective as possible Harold's decision to live life to the fullest (rather than continue to prefer to be dead) that it is first necessary to make his life miserable.
As insanely amusing as much of the movie is, it is also full of profundity after profundity from Maude, who is a nearly continuous font of wisdom, with laughter and humor being simply the most crucial values in her wisdom. When she asks Harold what he does for fun, he takes her to a picnic in a wrecking yard. She replies, "I'll grant you, it has a certain something. But is it enough?" When Harold declines her offer of wine, she replies, "Oh go on, it's organic." And most beautiful of all, when Harold says, "I don't want you to die, Maude. I love you," she replies with perfect calmness, "Harold, that's wonderful. Now go out and love some more." If you've been caught up in the genuine spirit of this movie, the line will not seem like some breezy brush-off, but may instead bring tears to your eyes.
The scene of Harold's grief after Maude's death, intercutting silent images of him waiting in a hospital room and driving recklessly around the Marin headlands in the Jaguar he has converted into a hearse while Cat Steven's song, "Trouble" plays, is very well-done and sets up the climax of the film beautifully. Cat Steven's soundtrack throughout, in fact, is a splendid selection of songs, and certainly makes clear that, however morbid things might seem, this film is ultimately life-affirming in a very profound way.
Having watched this movie many, many times and having yet to tire of it, it seems to me there is more to it than meets the eye. And not just because, when Harold gives Maude an engraved birthday gift, she says, "This is the nicest gift anyone has given me in a long time," and then throws it into the San Francisco Bay saying, "That way, I'll always know where it is." And not just because one eventually notices, in the briefest of passing shots, the tattoo of a concentration camp inmate on Maude's arm. In the final analysis, it seems to me that Harold is actually already dead. That his theatrical suicides aren't faked at all, but also don't succeed because he himself is not aware that he's actually dead. It's probably more accurate to say that the director pushes the narrative to the point where Harold seems to be actually dead and not just faking, precisely to make his choice of life at the end all the more inspiring.
And inspiring it is. Harold & Maude is not (alas) for everyone. A viewer who is hidebound like the movie's priest, colonel or mother (read church, state, authority) will find Maude's sometimes gentle, sometimes brash mocking of convention more annoying than enlightening, just as the (not depicted) sexual relationship between Harold and Maude is the thing many people who miss the point remember about the movie. To this, Maude might say, as she does to a police officer, "Don't be officious. You're not yourself when you're officious. That's the curse of a government job." Or as she says, when the priest replies that he didn't like the way she'd painted his statue of the Virgin Mary, "Give it time. It'll grow on you. Some things take a while to appreciate."
Movie Review: Can Life Be Beautiful?
Summary: 5 Stars
I was told about this film by a friend when it came out. After days of them insisting that I see it, I was in downtown Portland, Oregon and it was playing at one of the theaters w/ a special sneak preview of a film and a second feature. So, you got 3 films for the price of one. Having absolutely nothing better to do, I decided to go see it by myself. When I arrived at the theater, the showing of Harold and Maude was just getting out. The theater was extremely crowded for a Sunday matinee. When the next film started up, the theater was almost empty. I watched both the sneak preview, and the co-feature and while I was waiting for Harold and Maude to start, the theater began to fill up again until it was FULL. Harold and Maude was the draw! I have never enjoyed a film as much as I did Harold and Maude. After that I returned to the theater 26 times with everyone I could find to see the film. They in turn brought their friends and etc... Harold and Maude was held over at the Guild Theater for a record 42 weeks. I cut the article out of the paper with a picture of the marquee, when they said it had broken records for films held over in the city of Portland at that time.
For years I watched for the film on TV. I never saw it again until one day, after VHS films began to get popular, I found it in a bargain bin in a K-Mart in Idaho and the phenomenon started again. I showed it to all my new friends, relatives and anyone I could talk into sitting throught the film. I have never loaned out my VHS. Am purchasing it on DVD as we speak. And when I get my DVD....believe me, the phenomenon will begin once again as I've moved from Oregon, to Idaho, and now to Nevada... I will create another entire Harold and Maude fan base! This is a wonderful film. Imaginative, Original, Funny, Sad and Refreshing! I see something new every time I watch the film. By the time I'm dead, I'm sure I'll have every frame memorized. This is a film you SHARE with as many people as you can.
After viewing the film, I did find a copy of Ruth Gordon's autobiography. It was great reading. I only wish that I'd met her in person. I saw her on Johnny Carson w/ Bud Cort when the film was celebrating one of it's anniversaries. Either for the VHS release, the DVD release or for a re-release of the film, I can't remember which. But, in the interview, Bud Cort said that many of his friends begged him not to take the role because they thought it would pidgeon hole his career to playing quirky roles. But, he said: "Once I read the script, I knew that I had to play Harold and when I met Ruth, I knew why he fell in love with her." They were close, tight friends until her untimely death. I have watched every thing on film I could find with either of these talented actors. Ruth found more fame playing Clint Eastwood's mother in the "Every Which Way But Loose" film and sequels. Bud's career, was in fact pidgeoned holed to quirky roles so far, but, this is the film that EVERYONE MUST SEE BEFORE THEY DIE! The soundtrack is almost ALL Cat Stevens. If you ever wondered what people saw in him, this movie will show you. It's unfortunate that his career has been overshadowed by his conversion to muslem. He was then and still is an incredible writer/performer. This film proves that.
This film is a black comedy that looks at life, love, war, politics, fashion, music, art and most anything else you can think of through the eyes of a 79 yr old woman and a young man who meets her at a funeral for someone neither of them knew. He's fascinated with staging suicides, she's fascinated with everything in the world and that includes Harold. This is NOT your typical film in any sense of the word. I can't explain it to you or give it away...you HAVE to see it for yourself.
Vivian Pickles as Harold's mother deserved an Oscar Nod for this film as did Eric Christmas as the family Priest.
The Soundtrack for this film is only available in a Japanese Pressing (if you can find it) the closest thing to an American Version of the Soundtrack is "Footsteps In The Dark - Greatest Hits, Vol.2" by Cat Stevens. It "IS" the soundtrack plus a couple of extras tossed in and worth the price of admission to both the film and the LP.
Movie Review: I haven't lived ... but I've died a few times ...
Summary: 5 Stars
Hal Ashby's masterpiece Harold and Maude is so many people's favourite movie, that it's mind-boggling. When the film was released in 1971 it was panned by the bulk of the reviewers and was thought of as something that would be quickly forgotten as it was not easy for the Academic journalists to pigeonhole. Both, Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon won Golden Globes for best Actress and Best Actor that year even though the press had been grossly unkind. Several American theatres even played this film repetitively for two years, day after day, just because it was that good.
The screenplay for Harold and Maude was an idea that was spawned for Collin Higgin's thesis for the UCLA screenwriting MFA program and the film took off from there. The book is also available, for those interested, but be advised the book was put together after the film and reads a bit dry, and doesn't tell an expanded story as one would think it would, but rather a slightly `different story', if you will. But don't get me wrong, the book is still very entertaining and a good read.
The film is about a struggle between the value of life and a young man named Harold Chasen and the mentoring brought by his new friend Maude. Not until he meets and forms a bond with Maude does he start to understand that the world, and himself isn't on the verge of an apocalypse as he might have been led to believe by his self-indulgent and caddish mother, wonderfully imagined and portrayed by Vivian Pickles. Don't you just love that accent, and her random French phrasing?
Harold obviously was meant to be portrayed as someone suffering, as we see multiple attempts at suicide, which is a large part of his verbal and physical vocabulary. He has either an absent or dead father which is a theme that is not addressed but does make the viewer wonder how much it plays upon his psyche. The real story is the grand coupe of how Maude wins him over, getting him to really embrace and appreciate life, which is incredibly touching, making this movie one of the most unforgettable films of all time. The score, woven in beautifully by Cat Stevens, heightens the importance and greatness of the film, which continually pull at the heart-strings and the mind.
Some people, smirk and pull away if they've heard about this film, but haven't seen it. They always say: "Oh, that film. Not interested." I've met about a handful of these types and they're typically bothered by Harold and Maude's relationship. Yawwwnnnnn. Others say they're always bothered by the suicide aspect, let me tell you that the thought of suicide has got me through many a dark night, and I don't find it offensive or inappropriate in the slightest. All I can say is do yourself a favor and watch it from beginning to end, uninterrupted and just accept it for what it is. Just because an element of a film bothers you -- doesn't mean that the film is bad, it just means that the film stirred an uncomfortable emotion in you. That's all.
It would be nice to see this film get the re-master and frame-by-frame cleaning and color correction treatment. The DVD quality looks like a really good video transfer, but a video transfer nonetheless. It's presented in 5.1 Dolby surround, which is a plus, but this film really begs a commentary, extras, stills, all of that which is common on other releases.
And yes, for the record ... this is in my top three favourite all-time films. Magnificent.
Movie Review: "You can't let the world judge you too much."
Summary: 5 Stars
Although it had its supporters, most critics viciously attacked the 1971 HAROLD AND MAUDE. Vincent Carnaby, influential critic for The New York Times, described it as "creepy and off-putting;" Variety was equally dire, saying it "has all the fun and gaiety of a burning orphanage." The public was vocally appalled by the marketing, which presented movie as a love story between an old woman and a teenage boy, and stayed away. It was one of the biggest crash-and-burn debacles of its decade. And more than twenty years later it was placed in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as artistically, culturally, and historically significant. It seems fairly safe to say that it was movie twenty-five years ahead of its time.
The basic outline of the story is extremely well known. Harold (Bud Cort) is nineteen, and heir to a family fortune, and entirely under the thumb of his relentlessly proper mother (Vivian Pickles.) Disillusioned, disgruntled, and desperate for attention, he attempts to torture his mother by faking on suicide after another; he also buys a hearse and begins to attend the fuenrals of people he does not know. It is here that he meets Maude (Ruth Gordon), a seventy-nine year old woman who every bit as eccentric but in an entirely opposite way: instead of embracing death, she embraces life, determined to have a good time--even if it means throwing caution to the winds and flying in the face of all that is considered "appropriate behavior."
The outline of the story doesn't do it justice. Although the humor of the film arises from relentless irreverence, its power arises from Maude's determination that Harold should at least try living before he so firmly embraces death--a choice that she herself has secretly made, electing to end her life before she becomes a victim of old age. Maude teaches Harold to take chances, to fight the good fight and not count the cost. Yes, HAROLD AND MAUDE really is as wild, wacky, far-out, and off-beat as you may have heard. But it is a great deal more than that. It is also a lesson in living without undue respect for the prisons of conventionality.
It is impossible to imagine the film working without Ruth Gordon and But Court, who make the entire thing--all the way from faked suicides to stolen cars--seem entirely plausible, and who offer a depth of character that might have escaped other actors. Vivian Pickles also scores strongly as Harold's controlling mother; the entire supporting cast is equally fine. Harold Ashby, who also directed such later films as SHAMPOO, leads the material with a sure touch and quick pace; cinematographer John Alonzo films everything with an attractive touch. And any review that failed to mention the Cat Stevens score, which has the effect of tying the various episodes so firmly together, would be horrendously amiss.
Although the film could stand a remaster, my only serious complaint about the DVD release is that this is indeed a film that deserves a release with all the bells and whistles--but there isn't a single bonus to be had. Not everyone will like HAROLD AND MAUDE. Many continue to agree that the film is indeed "creepy and off-putting"--and in a world where conformity is over-valued, they always will. But forget such small-minded hobgoblins: HAROLD AND MAUDE is both wickedly funny and deeply touching, and I strongly recommend it.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Movie Review: #1 with a Bullet
Summary: 5 Stars
"Harold & Maude" must be my favorite movie of all time. I've probably seen it at least 40 times. Perhaps that's why the DVD wound up under this year's Christmas tree for me. Director Hal Ashby does a wonderful job with this offbeat flick. After winning a Best Editing Oscar for "In the Heat of the Night," this was Ashby's 2nd film as director to be followed by an impressive list of classics, "Coming Home," "Shampoo," "The Last Detail," "Bound for Glory," and "Being There" before he died of cancer in 1988. Not a frame is wasted.Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon are magnificent as the leads in this unlikely love story. Gordon who won an Oscar for "Rosemary's Baby" is full of life as Dame Marjorie Chardam or Maude. She gets the classic lines, "How the world still dearly loves a cage," and "It's best to aim above morality; otherwise you got nothing to talk about in the locker room." Bud Cort as wide-eyed Harold draws us inside his heart, despite the incredibly bizarre suicidal behavior. But as is referenced several times in the lines, "It's absurd"; and H&M is an absurdist film, showing alienation from society.
The richness of the film is reflected in the great care with the minor characters. Charles Tyner as Uncle Victor is described as General MacArthur's "right hand man," only to be shown as a military officer whose right hand has been amputated. Vivian Pickles is incredible as Harold's mother, one who lives in her own world. From the moment we see Harold hanging in the drawing room and his mother casually calling to reschedule her hair appointment, we know we are in for a very unusual look at competing values.
The three dates are each marvelous cameo performances. Will Geer's daughter Ellen Geer who has also played in "Clear & Present Danger" & "Patriot Games" plays actress Sunshine Dore (Door actually!) who commits hari-kari. Shari Summers as the wide eyed Edith Fern who sells chicken feed to not quite the whole Southwest gets to watch Harold chop off his hand with a clever. Cort's smile as she exits is a perfect Mona Lisa. Judy Engles who plays Candy and bubbles about majoring in Poli Sci as Harold apparently sets himself aflame is priceless as is her insane exit from frame. Eric Christmas as the priest who starred in other odd classics like "Porky's" & "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" is marvelously revolting as he tells Harold that the thought of his young flesh commingling with Maude makes him want to vomit.
Harold & Maude is so well loved for so many reasons. Maude's odorifics where Harold smells snow is magical. Maude's description of the lillies having so many observable differences when Harold comments that they're all the same is powerful, followed by her pointing to a graveyard and saying, "I think much of the world's sorrow is from people who are actually this (flowers), but allow themselves to be treated as that (gravestones, dead)."
The ultimate reason why "Harold & Maude" is considered classic by so many is that it touches universal truths in our hearts. Some can't get beyond the older woman, younger guy thing; and that's a shame. Many of us will watch it another 40 times with equal delight! Enjoy!