Review of Harold and Maude (1971) by Dawdlingpoet — 21 Nov 2021

This film did give me quite a wry smile, although it rarely made me laugh out loud, as such - maybe only a couple of times. I could easily relate to Harolds lack of interest in his mothers affairs (not of a romantic nature, I should clarify) - the other characters he interacts with all come across as very much self centered/absorbed and very predictable. He appears to be somewhat of a stoney faced, ghost like figure as he's pushed into the background and yet his mother doesn't appear to know what to do with him because I suppose he isn't the model child that parents hope, or presume, their kid(s) will somehow naturally be.

It has something of a life affirming element to it, when Harold and Maude are together and sort of allow themselves to be themselves and to heck with what other people think about their rather impulsive, erratic and eccentric behaviour. They make for an interesting double act of sorts, given he's a young adult (presumably a teenager) and she's an elderly lady - Maude exclaims at one point that spending time with him takes her back to her school days. Some of the dialogue is poignant, although perhaps a bit sugary sweet for some maybe - I suppose its a slightly strange mix to have such dark comedy/humour with the (somewhat) graphic, staged depictions of suicides, alongside talk about seizing life, making the most of life and so on. I feel there's definitely a class element very much at play here too, given Harold lives in a rather large, mansion style house with a clearly very upper class mother. When he's given an introduction to the military, in the hopes he'll somehow 'make a man of himself', things don't go to plan and seeing the flustered reaction of the General was quite amusing. There's something almost reassuring, in a sense, about the fact that well regarded professionals seem baffled by Harold and the person who seemingly 'gets him' is someone who, to all intents and purposes, is also not looked on well and is overlooked by others.

This is a very quirky film which some may well feel is a bit distasteful and thus won't necessarily sit well with some - you may find it quite amusing in parts, or you may struggle to understand what the point is, its hard to say. I can certainly understand why its regarded as a cult film, as its got quite an 'indie' feel to it and its clearly quite original, in terms of the story - I don't feel like ive come across many, if any, characters quite like Harold, somehow. By the end of the flm, I couldn't help but wonder what became of this person - if it were a real depiction of someone, where did they end up?. I think there is a thought provoking element to it - its quite care free and light hearted while also tackling (if in a slightly strange way, maybe) some heavy subjects, that of belonging, acknowledgment and even mortality.

I found the film to be perfectly watchable, it isn't an especially long watch at about an hour and a half running time. Its one of those quirky films where you feel, as a viewer, as if your without some perhaps key information which might make you understand things a bit better but it actually benefits from this, I feel. We learn a bit more about Harold as the film progresses and there's a real plot twist towards the end, one that particularly took me aback as it seemed to go against what I thought I knew of the person involved. I think this film somehow affirms that you don't always know goes on in peoples minds. I think this film wouldn't work, or certainly not anything like as well as it did, if it weren't for the main performances of Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort, as Maude and Harold respectively. They both come across as intriguing, eccentric characters and its quite nice to see how they both seem to open up to one another after spending time with each other. It is an interesting character driven film, if a little dark and perhaps not fast enough paced plot wise for some, maybe.

Yes I'd recommend this film in as much as I quite enjoyed watching it and got a laugh or two out of it, although I'd make it clear that it won't be for everyone and indeed some may find it distasteful. Its hard to describe without showing it but it is quite a dark film wth an 'indie' feel to it and fans of such films, or those especially curious about the themes would likely enjoy it, I'd imagine.