#277: Harold and Maude
Release Date: December 20th, 1971
Format: 16mm (Art Theatre of Long Beach in Long Beach, CA) Written by: Colin Higgins Directed by: Hal Ashby 4 Stars
Harold and Maude has such a tremendous spirit. I’m not sure how you can watch this movie and not fall in love with everything that it stands for.
The script, written by Colin Higgins, is about a young man named Harold. Harold lives an utterly depressed and meaningless life with his wealthy mother, whom he enjoys taunting with elaborately staged fake suicide attempts. He also enjoys attending funerals. It’s at a funeral that he one day meets Maude, a 79-year-old woman who in many ways is the yin to Harold’s yang. Whereas Harold can hardly tolerate the superficiality of existence, Maude embraces the beauty of simple pleasures, like looking at sunflowers or playing music or posing nude for artists.
What begins as a friendship evolves into love, and Harold learns that yes, while life may be interpreted as superficial and meaningless, that is no excuse to not find joy. If there is no great purpose or meaning to life, Maude shows him, you get to make your own.
It’s a beautiful movie. Director Hal Ashby, in only his second feature film, shows a surprising confidence. He hits notes that range from absurd to tender, and doesn’t shy away from embracing the oddities in Higgins’ script (Maude would be proud of both of them). Ashby’s lead performers, Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon, are lovely in their scenes together, and Vivan Pickles is a riot as Harold’s well-meaning but totally clueless mother.
Just as indelible as the film is the film’s soundtrack, by Cat Stevens. His music and his lyrics get me choked up every time I watch this strange little movie. I’ll end with my favorite verse of his, that seems to capture the love between Harold and Maude: “you know that love is better than a song / love is where all of us belong / so don’t be shy / just let your feelings roll on by / don’t wear fear / or nobody will know you’re there / you’re there, you’re there, you’re there / you’re there, you’re there, you’re there / you’re there, you’re there, you’re there.”
