Film Review: Harold and Maude

About Harold and Maude (1971) Hal Ashby’s cult black-comedy. Harold (Bud Cort) is a death-obsessed teenager who hangs around in cemeteries and drives a hearse. When he attends a funeral and meets his polar opposite Maude (Ruth Gordon), a life-loving 79-year-old, a strange love affair ensues. However, the offbeat nature of their pairing, and their defiance of social convention, causes upset all around. With music by Cat Stevens.

Starring: Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack, Charles Tyner

Directed by: Hal Ashby

Runtime: 88 minutes

Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment

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Review: Harold and Maude 

A huge box office hit doesn’t always point to the best film of the year. Many audiences prefer glitzy effects to films made on modest budgets where a good script and acting make or break them. Many of these independent films have no success at the box office but gather cult followings later. Let’s not forget The Shawshank Redemption (1994) is highly acclaimed today but did nothing at the box office. Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude was not a success when first released back in 1971 but has since become a cult classic, so naturally I was intrigued about discovering why.

The film tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a young man, Harold Chasen (Bud Cort), and a 79 year old woman, Maude (Ruth Gordon). Harold comes from a rich family but rebels against social convention and drives his mother, Mrs Chasen (Vivian Pickles), up the wall with his obsession with death and elaborate set pieces that always lead to his fake suicide. Visiting funerals regularly, Harold meets Maude who is a free spirit, living every day to the fullest and they form a close friendship. With Harold’s mother eager for her son to marry, how long can Harold remain an insurgent to his rich family’s way of life?

This is a very dark comedy at times and what’s to come isn’t better conveyed than the opening scene where Harold prepares a noose and hangs himself in his home. Is this the end and what follows all flashbacks? No. Harold’s mother walks in, takes one look at her son, rolls her eyes and walks away disgusted. Harold isn’t dead, this is just a fascination he has with death, acting out some complex methods of ending his life for good but never going through with it for real. His mother is at the end of her tether and wants Harold to grow up. The best way she can think of is to find him a wife. The film will make you smile as Harold meets a succession of women and manages to send all of them running out of house with his strange ways. My favorite was when he greeted another potential wife before excusing himself, heading outside, covering himself with a blank and dousing himself with petrol, before setting himself on fire much to the horror of the young woman looking on. Only Harold isn’t really under the blanket and wanders back into the house as happy as you please. The young woman doesn’t stay long!

Harold’s meeting with Maude changes his life. Though 79, Maude is full of energy, and meets with Harold regularly, getting into all kinds of trouble such as being pulled over by a police bike, trying to sweet talk her way out of the situation before stealing the bike! Maude enlists Harold’s help in stealing a tree from the center of a town and taking it to the wild to grow in a more natural environment and she even teaches Harold to play the banjo, which ties in well with the great soundtrack that plays in the background to the film. What begins as a friendship develops into a deeper and more meaningful relationship much to the disgust of Harold’s mother. With such an age gap though is this really a sustainable romance that can overcome the frowns and revulsion of an unforgiving society?

Harold and Maude is very funny but very dark. Harold’s various suicide acts to frighten off his potential wives amused me but some people may find these understandably a bit too much. Cort is great as the morose Harold but Gordon is wonderful as the boundless Maude who shows Harold the many joys that life has to offer. It’s the turnaround that Harold needs, so fixated is he on death that he is missing out on life. I won’t spoil the ending but it’s inevitably bittersweet. However, the final scene is a great way to conclude this well-deserved cult classic.

Harold and Maude is a funny and at times poignant dark comedy. The idea of a relationship between a 20 year old and a 79 year old may make some people grimace but the subject is handled really well here. Harold and Maude’s friendship reminds me a little of one of my favorite films, Lost in Translation, with two kindred spirits at different phases in life but managing to find common ground. Maude is at ease with life and helps the maladjusted Harold change his perspective. Great stuff.

Verdict: 4/5

(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)

Film Review: Harold and Maude | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave