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Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971)
Harold and Maude certainly isn't meant to be some political diatribe. It's not about economics or conservatiism vs. liberalism, although it wouldn't be hard to pull that out if you want to discuss where its heart lies. Do I look up to Maude? Of course I do. She's not like anybody else. Is she wacky and a wacko? Of course; that's why I love her. Harold and Maude is just much simpler in its basics than people seem to think it is, although its details can be complex. Harold represents Death and Maude represents Life. That's not anything too tough to grasp. If you find this a simplistic look at life, especially for a draft-age kid who could go to Vietnam at anytime (it was made in 1971) somehow personally insulting, then I think you're taking it much too seriously. Yes, and that includes the fact that Maude is a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp (remember the tattooed number on her arm?)
First and foremost, Harry and Maude is a comedy, and one I've been laughing at out loud at for almost 27 years now. It's definitely one of the blackest comedies ever made, but it probably does have the funniest sets of "deaths" of any black comedy I've seen. I do not find anything reasonable about any of the characters that the film seems to make fun of, nor do I find the concept of being drafted to go and fight in a war which seems to have no meaning something to be proud about doing. Harold was probably supposed to be about seven years older than I am, but I was in the last group that actually had their birth dates numbered in the draft, so even if it happened to me after I saw Harold and Maude, I definitely can relate to something about why Harold sees death as the way to live and "fake death" as preferable to real death.
Secondly, Harold and Maude is very romantic. Yes, the Priest's verbalization of what it would be like for Harold and Maude to make love makes him sick, but I find it hilarious. Harold and Maude is one of those films where you can see why opposites attract or maybe even why people who are actually similar at heart seem to be opposites; they were born at different times and went through similar things at different times. You just need to sit down and talk with someone about why they seem different. I mean, even Harold is a bit taken aback at how brazen Maude's antics seem to be, but whatever you say, Maude never really hurts anybody. At least not compared to what she must have lived through in the camps. Besides, Maude knows what we do not know. Maude knows how everything will turn out, and she lets Harold make his own choice on how to live and whether to die. If you ask me, if Maude wasn't good for Harold, then the ending would have been a much bigger downer than it is.
My fave scenes in the flick, besides Harold's suicides, are the ending, the awesome scene where they're having a picnic, pick flowers and then the camera pulls back to show you where they are, and the scene with the motorcycle cop. If you don't know, the cop is played by Tom Skerritt (Alien), and he's hilarious. Now, if I had some reason to be worried about any of the characters running around loose on the street who might actually endanger people, it would be this cop. If his pistol didn't misfire, he probably would have shot a pedestrian stone dead.
Harold and Maude certainly isn't meant to be some political diatribe. It's not about economics or conservatiism vs. liberalism, although it wouldn't be hard to pull that out if you want to discuss where its heart lies. Do I look up to Maude? Of course I do. She's not like anybody else. Is she wacky and a wacko? Of course; that's why I love her. Harold and Maude is just much simpler in its basics than people seem to think it is, although its details can be complex. Harold represents Death and Maude represents Life. That's not anything too tough to grasp. If you find this a simplistic look at life, especially for a draft-age kid who could go to Vietnam at anytime (it was made in 1971) somehow personally insulting, then I think you're taking it much too seriously. Yes, and that includes the fact that Maude is a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp (remember the tattooed number on her arm?)
First and foremost, Harry and Maude is a comedy, and one I've been laughing at out loud at for almost 27 years now. It's definitely one of the blackest comedies ever made, but it probably does have the funniest sets of "deaths" of any black comedy I've seen. I do not find anything reasonable about any of the characters that the film seems to make fun of, nor do I find the concept of being drafted to go and fight in a war which seems to have no meaning something to be proud about doing. Harold was probably supposed to be about seven years older than I am, but I was in the last group that actually had their birth dates numbered in the draft, so even if it happened to me after I saw Harold and Maude, I definitely can relate to something about why Harold sees death as the way to live and "fake death" as preferable to real death.
Secondly, Harold and Maude is very romantic. Yes, the Priest's verbalization of what it would be like for Harold and Maude to make love makes him sick, but I find it hilarious. Harold and Maude is one of those films where you can see why opposites attract or maybe even why people who are actually similar at heart seem to be opposites; they were born at different times and went through similar things at different times. You just need to sit down and talk with someone about why they seem different. I mean, even Harold is a bit taken aback at how brazen Maude's antics seem to be, but whatever you say, Maude never really hurts anybody. At least not compared to what she must have lived through in the camps. Besides, Maude knows what we do not know. Maude knows how everything will turn out, and she lets Harold make his own choice on how to live and whether to die. If you ask me, if Maude wasn't good for Harold, then the ending would have been a much bigger downer than it is.
My fave scenes in the flick, besides Harold's suicides, are the ending, the awesome scene where they're having a picnic, pick flowers and then the camera pulls back to show you where they are, and the scene with the motorcycle cop. If you don't know, the cop is played by Tom Skerritt (Alien), and he's hilarious. Now, if I had some reason to be worried about any of the characters running around loose on the street who might actually endanger people, it would be this cop. If his pistol didn't misfire, he probably would have shot a pedestrian stone dead.