Harold and Maude

A delightful cult classic about the unlikely relationship between Harold, a morbid teenager, and Maude, an elderly anarchist.

Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude is a beautiful love story, perhaps one of the sweetest in film history. But it is also an eccentric cult classic, a black comedy that, in the best hippie spirit, pokes fun at the bourgeoisie, celebrates free thinking and is full of wonderful, absurd paradoxes. The film became incredibly popular when it was released; the most devoted fans saw it dozens, if not hundreds, of times during its theatrical run in the US. Ruth Gordon, who plays Maude, has said that a certain Doug Strand, a resident of St. Paul and perhaps one of the film’s greatest admirers, saw it at least 201 times!

Harold is a rich but frustrated teenager who, in an effort to make life more interesting, has developed a strong interest in death. This leads him not only to fake his own death in the most creative ways, but also to attend various funerals. It is at one such funeral that he meets Maude, an almost 80-year-old bon vivant and champion of freedom, and the two fall head over heels for each other. But as well as discovering that they are a “match made in heaven”, Maude helps Harold see that life doesn’t have to be dreary; he just needs to dare to let go and focus on what is positive and truly valuable.

Harold and Maude is a film that wants to say something; it has a message. But, in keeping with Maude’s anarchist philosophy, you can do whatever you like with that message. As Film Quarterly puts it: “That Maude can get away with delivering lofty messages and still remain «in character» is a triumph for the makers of this film. They have designed a character who is both a sympathetic human figure and a mouthpiece for precise cultural criticism. Maude’s social and private radicalism is so integral to her personality that it arouses none of the discomfort that is commonly experienced when a movie character expounds about «life».” Or, as the film’s screenwriter Colin Higgins puts it: “We’re all Harold, and we all want to be Maude”.