Harold & Maude (1971)
Upon initial viewing, and I've had many since then to grasp the subtle intricacies of this film, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It opens with an apparent suicide of a young man. I was completely shocked, I didn't expect a comedy to be so dark. Then his mother walks into the room, seemingly aware of the situation, and reacts nonchalantly as she glides over to the phone and makes a call. The young man, I correctly assumed to be Harold, begins to feign choking and sticks his tongue out at the camera as his mother leaves the room like nothing had occurred. Flabbergasted at the events that had transpired in the opening scene, I realized this is one of those movies where you must expect the unexpected, and even then you'll be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
Enter Harold (Bud Cort), a young man obsessed with death. He attends funerals of people he does not know as a hobby, something that leaves his therapist speechless, and drives a black hearse. Morbid indeed. He must then contend with his overbearing and controlling mother (Vivian Pickles) who now sees his faked suicide attempts as the norm, well for him. They only ever bother her if he makes a mess of her house. Sad, I know. She seems to have giving up helping him as therapy and the military don't seem to dissuade or help him. She then resorts to setting up Harold on dates with women she approves of and Harold just won't have it, only adding to his mother's ire.
Enter Maude (Ruth Gordon), a chance encounter at a funeral introduces Harold to Maude, a woman who's 80th birthday is nearing. She's completely opposite of Harold as she has a zest for life. She's vivacious and courageous and this interests Harold. Soon they strike up a friendship and she changes his life forever. He opens up to her in ways his mother, his military uncle (Charles Tyner) and prospective girlfriends never could get him to. It's a humorous and charming coming of age story told like no other.
I'm not sure if it was the screenplay or the directing (Hal Ashby) or both of them combined, but I was hooked early on and just couldn't be disinterested in where the plot was heading. The development of Harold as character and as an adult was so intriguing and humorous. He became a little repetitive in the middle, but with good reason. He had people to scare off. And in the end, he wasn't the same man he started off as. His mother's character was a little on the flat side, but the writing, directing and great acting by Pickles contributed to a memorable, sort of caricature performance. Gordon's Maude was impeccable and exciting as she stole cars, ran from the police and liberated trees. This created a paradox with her character. This eighty year old woman was living her life to the fullest as well as interesting binary with Harold. She was the elder one who lived her life fully and Harold is the young one obsessed with death. The combination of the two sparked a wild and freeing relationship that propelled the narrative forward reaching philosophical and commentative heights that few comedies dare or ever reach. Commentary and satire on modern society is always welcome in my book. And the battle of wits between Harold and his mother really personified this. Harold refused to become what society and his mother viewed as normal, and he stuck to this moral throughout. Not to mention Maude, who literally fought societal rules during the film.
The film and narrative was a little shaky and jumpy (pardon the pun--see end of film) towards the end, but to reach an emotional and satisfying conclusion I suppose you have to take some risks--even if that means alienating your audience. I applaud the writers and director for taking on such an unique project and risky plot twists. Subverting societal norms even in writing and production! Overall, a great and classic film.
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Scoring Breakdown:
10/10 for the acting, why this film didn't win any Golden Globe or Oscar acting awards, I'll never know
9/10 for unique, interesting and inventive writing (by Colin Higgins)
9/10 for great directing, cinematography, etc. and the emotions they created
8/10 for hilarious and sometimes risky humor, it worked most of the time
9/10 for character development, for the most part the actors and writers did a great job in the department
Final Score:
45/50 or 90 A-
