Review of Harold and Maude (1971) by Leighton T — 16 Aug 2009

"Harold, everyone has the right to make an ass out of themselves, you can't let the world judge you too much.".

The film Harold & Maude seems to be a message that any kind of relationship, anything is acceptable, that we are all very different and it just doesn't matter. Nothing matters except living life to the fullest and not being afraid to do that. (The shot of the sunflowers is especially beautiful because Maude explains how different they are, even though Harold thinks they all look the same. Later we get the same kind of shot with tombstones, showing that while all these markers look the same, there are individuals under each one who were unique, special.) It is funny that all Harold thinks about is death (his suicide attempts are hysterical) and Maude is the first one to come along and teach him how much life can be, and thus he falls for her. Now all he wants to do is live, but Maude wants to die, and his pitching of the Jaguar hearse at the end means his obsession of death is now over - Maude has cured that, in her death. The film, amazingly, has a warm heart under its pitch black comedy.

Both Gordon and Cort are spot on, if a little disturbing, in their portrayals (the after-sex shot disturbed me). The technical aspects were not great, the film was very plastic, very pale, very dead-toned (although one could reason...), though there were some nice cinematographic shots, and Cat Stevens' music was a big help and provided the film with great tone, made the film more easy-going. Sometimes, the film may go too far, yes, but it's definitely worth the viewing.