Although tied to the hippy period, Harold and Maude is well worth watching today. It handles macabre and taboo subjects with ease and humour. The Cat Stevens music really carries it well. Ruth Gordon was such a sweetheart, although I don't agree with some of the things her 80-year-old character does in the movie (e.g., stealing cars, sleeping with 20 year old).

I found this movie as a teenager in the 80s and it had a profound impact on me. The soundtrack is fantastic, and the message is great: be yourself, be open to love, and be willing to experience life in all its glory.

Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude is without a doubt one of the most bizarre films I've ever seen. It immediately puts the viewer outside of their comfort zone. The movie essentially revolves around the relationship of the two protagonists, the morbid, death obsessed Harold and the old, free spirited Maude. Okay, let's just say their relationship is disturbing and repugnant when considered at face value. But beyond its strangeness, it does carry a deeper intent that I think is worthy to be unpacked. Ashby tells an unconventional love story to shock people. The dynamics of their relationship reflect how marriage between two different ages is basically perceived as scandalous in society and can be said to show how same sex couples were viewed during the period. Their bond, strange as it is, encourages us instead to look at ourselves and ask why it is that some relationships make us uncomfortable but others are acceptable. Much as I remain skeptical about the relationship, I now appreciate the fact that there is a bigger story beyond it. The zest Maude has for living and a rejection of societal rules certainly gives a bright energetic cast to the film with Harold's morbid fascination providing stark contrast that changes as they get involved with one another. It is not a comfortable movie to be with, and I won't pretend it worked altogether for me. But I can appreciate the audacity and the way it merges dark humor with tender moments to deal with significant issues. Strange, yes but also evocative enough to work well beyond its end credits.

Harold and Maude was interesting from the start. With the first time Harold is introduced to the audience he is pretending to take his own life to gain his mother’s attention. The overall feel of the film feels gloomy but with scenes where both Harold and Maude are bonding there are usually bright warm sunlight scenes. A scene I took note of was quite early in the film as he is being told something by his mother and her skin appears as though she was very warm toned. And he was quite pale which is when I started to first see the director's intent. As Harold first gets to know Maude and she tells him “oh my, how the world still dearly loves a cage” that phrase alone tells a lot of her character. She was a person who felt changed so for that reason she wanted to set everything free including herself. Through that I feel she felt most free by releasing birds and even the tree she rescues. On some level Harold felt trapped by his personal fascination with death. I interpreted their relationship as a way of freeing each other. Their “meet cute” isn’t like others I’ve seen before, it is very unique to them which I liked. Think the overall concept of having a couple with such a large age gap is unique. I want to also mention a question I had during viewing this, “would I feel the same calmness of their age gap if the gender roles were reversed?”. Truthfully I liked the connection they displayed with one another but at first I interpreted it as affection for friendship but about half way through I finally realized it was more than that. Its normal that most find their relationship odd, including myself but I’d oddly enough would see myself watching this film again to understand it even deeper.

Harold and Maude is easily one of the strangest movies I’ve ever seen. The story follows Harold, a wealthy but deeply depressed young man obsessed with death, who spends his days staging elaborate fake suicides to scare his mother. I remember watching this movie, looking at my phone really quick then hearing the crowd gasp which made me look up where I saw Harolds first fake suicide and my jaw dropped like “what did I miss?”. His life changes when he meets Maude, this free-spirited 79-year-old woman who lives every moment like it’s an adventure. Their friendship and eventual romance is unexpected and honestly feels so wrong to wrong for me because I’m not the fan of a big age gap. The humor in Harold and Maude is dark but clever where Harold’s fake suicides are absurdly dramatic, making them both shocking and hilarious and makes you go "Oh sh*t"! Meanwhile, Maude’s antics ike stealing cars or uprooting trees to “save” them—feel like pure chaos in the best way. The performances are perfect, and the actors suit their roles very well. This movie isn’t just weird for the sake of being weird. At its core, Harold and Maude is about finding joy and meaning in life, no matter how unconventional it looks. Maude teaches Harold (and the audience watching) that life is short, unpredictable, and worth living fully. So, yes, it’s strange, but that’s what makes it so special. Watching this movie made me very confused and it was a little hard to understand at first but I feel like I would have to watch this movie again in order to fully understand and appreciate this film and the messages it sends.

I already know this is going to be a movie I revisit often. I know professionals who've shunned our program for typically ignoring filmmakers like Hal Ashby, and I understand it. I am fascinated with its bizarre sense of humor, and more than complicated relationship at the center of it all. By the time it's said and done, you can't help but have your jaw on the floor and felt driven half insane. Harold begs for your words, hoping you can interfere and guide him. At least that's the sort of illusion he carries with him. Unfortunately my blatantly trite words would probably cause him to stick a pitchfork through his eyes. Harold is utterly uninterested in your help when it comes to it, likely because of his sour background and completely lack-of-loving home. That is, until Maude. Maude is different, in that she is vivaciously mischievous, and fun. Harold was unwillingly thrusted into adulthood too early, and hasn't had the opportunity to understand the unserious (or the far more serious) qualities of life that Maude seems to bask in. What individualizes Maude is her appreciation for all that she has lived, despite the countless tragedies she has undergone. They were made for each other, until they weren't. If you aren't an emotional mess after this, that's okay. It's seriously a bizarre coat of paint. I'm a mess though. I adored Harold & Maude.

Harold and Maude, what a beautiful movie. It does a great balancing dark humor and taboo concepts with love. Something I greatly appreciate about this movie is the genuine unconventional pairing. So often in media, we see unconventional pairs romanticized but never authentically represented. What I mean by this is that an old character is never really old, but Ruth Gordon, at the time of filming, was around 74—an older age for any character, even in today’s screenplays. This casting made all the difference, and I would hypothesize is likely the reason why it possibly didn’t do as well at the box office while at the same time is the reason that it is a cult classic. I also love how this movie builds the relationship between Harold and Maude. The way Harold and Maude initially fall in love is tender, genuine, and & non-lustful. Another extremely difficult thing to manage in the visual medium of storytelling. It seems as though most stories emphasize that there needs to be immediate attraction regardless if it’s a friends-to-lovers storyline, but in this story, it’s the way they both fall in love with each other’s souls that makes them attractive to the other. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and of course, as the story carries on, my heart is invested enough to get hurt. The heartbreak of this film made me immediately think of “Me Before You”, and I wonder if the original author Jojo Moyes gathered any inspiration from this movie. They have similar storylines in the way that “Me before You” also has a slow burn romance where they fall in love with each others souls, teach each other things the joys of life and in the end cannot save each other.

Harold & Maude is a wonderful movie and I enjoyed it a lot. This film in my opinion should have gotten more recognition even though the sex scene was a huge wtf moment at the near end. It is a creative film and it plays with symbolism between Life and death in many aspects in the film. This film can help to teach a lesson in life especially on how you view the world in many ways. It great to have a young person 'Harold' be the one who is miserable and act old, while 'Maude' is old and lives life like she is young and has many more years to live. The film creates a wonder unification of two different people and their aspect on life to have a better understanding. When Harold wants to show his mother his deaths to spook her she is used to him doing it. Maude likes to hoard things in such a small house and is more lively for an elderly woman. When it comes to the outfits, the attitudes, and age adding to the films' tone and theme. It is a fun comedy to enjoy with friends and movie lovers, and you can get a better understanding when watching it. I certainly did when first watching, however the relationship between the two is a bit awkward and can be a bit uncomfortable to view. It can relate to people with these sort of personalities especially those who are emo and hate life. Its nice meaning behind life can be easy to understand when you look deeper into how the film portrays.

I can imagine the prudes of today not understanding or approving of this classic film that takes the standard coming of age premise and turns it on its head. Brilliant performances from Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon. This film is a must-see from a lost time and era when eccentrics were appreciated and movies for thinking adults were made.

Harold and Maude 1971 was a film about a love story maybe seen as a drama Romance I believe this film had a impact on society not just for the main theme of age in relationships, but in terms of style too, you could see the fashion sense was different especially on Harold. The first shot of this film doesn’t show any face for at least three minutes, but it tells us a lot about the person and the way they move/mannerisms. The second shot seemed to be an extreme wide shot with a very intense/alarming as I saw this. I was in shock that that was the first time we got a full body of the main character. Even though the shot was alarming, they don’t make the topic of death, a dark topic with the music choice and the editing style. In those days, I believe they made women to be in films somewhat cookie and somewhat strange for an example One of the woman stole a car I was somewhat surprised. I haven’t seen a lot of movies in the 70s, but I noticed that Harold broke the fourth wall. I’m not sure if that started a bigger movement to breaking the fourth wall, but I thought that was very. The costar of the film was very quirky and flirty of a character, but she has beautiful lines about the cycle of life and people. Some of the shots in this film could inspire more people to get creative. One of the shots were a fill of the frame of coffins and the graveyards, can be used for many different ways. As the film progressed, I saw the last scenes were very touching as he officially announced that he loves her. The fireworks were a beautiful addition to the scene, visually and metaphorically. When he revealed to his mother that he was going to marry maurde the mother‘s judgmental comments left him speechless as when he left the room we see his character change.

Harold and Maude was an interesting movie to view since this movie steers away from the typical romance movie. It contains a lot of humor and some dark humor due to the characters background. I found interesting the fact that a 19-year-old and 79-year-old were able to be compatible being the age gap is 60 years but that’s what makes this movie worth a watch. This film resonates with a lot of individuals who also deal with the same struggles of being imprisoned with this personification of having everything you ever wanted but still feeling like you don’t have anything. In Harolds case I found it particularly interesting that Harold was creating these scenarios of committing suicide and questioning as to why and what is the character trying to achieve and also making the situation to be funny and creative. However, when he finds Maude, you think to yourself that why would this work? It shouldn’t work but somehow it ends up unfolding to be a romance relationship. Another aspect this movie provides that really adds to the theme is the music selection. After some research, Cat stevens a songwriter inspired all the music that was used in the film, and I felt that these really elevated important scenes of the movie. Overall this movie was definitely a good watch with all the dark comedy and creativeness that was thought for this movie and highly recommend it to anyone who has not seen movies of this type of genera.

I feel sorry for people who don’t get this movie. I remember my parents allowing me to watch it when I was about 12 years old and at that point it was my favorite movie of all time - now after seeing it after countless viewings: I still believe this film is in the top 10 films ever made. Soundtrack is amazing and the movie open strong, takes you on this journey of friendship and love with the two characters and then has a heartbreaking but beautiful ending that will make you smile at the end.

Harold and Maude is such a weirdly wonderful gem of a movie! It’s about this young, death-obsessed guy, Harold, who meets Maude, this eccentric, free-spirited older woman, and their unlikely friendship (or romance, depending on how you see it) completely changes his life. The movie is equal parts dark humor and heartwarming moments. Harold's fake suicides are bizarrely hilarious, and Maude is like this whirlwind of life lessons—she’s all about living fully, no matter how much time you have. The soundtrack by Cat Stevens is *chef’s kiss* and adds so much soul to it. It’s definitely quirky and not for everyone, but if you’re into oddball stories with deeper messages about love, loss, and living authentically, you’ll probably fall in love with it.

Harold and Maude was an interesting movie to watch, that consisted of dark humor and the meaning of life. The movie starts off with Harold pulling a prank on his mother that he unalives himself, while the mother seems uninterested and unsurprised. Throughout the movie we learn that this is Harold's way of being by pulling these dark pranks on his mother. Harold enjoys these suicide pranks and attending random funerals in his free time. While at one of these funerals, Harold meets Maude. An older lady who is quite the opposite of him. Harold is all dark and hates life, while Maude is bright and lives life to the fullest. Together they go through adventures where Maude helps Harold realize that there is more to life. I grew awed by their relationship during these adventures, but then weird when the relationship turned into much more than a friendship. It was a bit strange to see an older lady with a young guy, but in a way I would say this is what made the movie stand out even more from the suicide pranks. Throughout the movie, you learn that Harold and his mother do not have a strong relationship. Harold and his mother are always against each other. Harold's mother does not understand any of Harold's interests and thinks he needs help. She sends him to a therapist hoping that would help, or tries finding him a girlfriend hoping a girlfriend would change him, even buys him a new car to get rid of the one Harold loves. The only person that seems to get Harold is Maude. In the film, you can see that Maude changes Harold for the better. In the end, I enjoyed how the film let's Harold prank us for a final time. I would definitely recommend this film.

Harold and Maude is a very strange yet profound film that focuses on the bond between the death/suicide obsessed Harold and 79-year-old upbeat Maude. Harold and Maude uses the constant suicide attempts by Harold as comedic moments to reflect his search for meaning and connection. The film’s use of dark humor juxtaposed with unexpected tender moments gives it a charm that was very unexpected. All the while making viewers uncomfortable but also somehow intrigued. One of the most popular takes about the film is how well it balances morbid and lighthearted elements. I agree, as somehow we're able to laugh at Harold’s dramatic attempts at death while also sympathizing with his clear loneliness and isolation. Harold’s obsession with death is a clearly a response to his detached, synthetic family life. Through Maude, who approaches every moment in life with a joyous passion, he learns to see the true value of life. She brings out a positive side of Harold that would otherwise be locked away. I found Harold and Maude to be a very original and moving film. I understand why it has a cult classic status and I think it resonates so much because it shows us how to find humor in the darkness of life while also embracing the often strange nature of reality. Harold and Maude is both an depiction of the absurdity of existence and also a reminder to appreciate it.

Harold & Maude was very interesting and entertaining to watch! I was interested in what kind of move Harold would do next. It kind of felt like he was pranking the viewer because there were moments when he looked directly at the camera after doing one of his pranks. I thought the movie was pretty touching too, especially that one scene when Harold and Maude were sitting together on the beach with the coin he showed Maude. There were so many romantic scenes, I loved it. Before I watched the movie, my professor mentioned that the movie was about their forbidden, socially unacceptable relationship with someone old, Maude, and young, Harold. The pairing of an older woman and a younger boy is very uncommon, so it seems a little weird. However, it's better than a pairing with an older man and a younger girl because Harold and Maude’s relationship was surrounded on romantic love and not lust. Their relationship is interesting because Harold was someone who hated life, and jokes about death, but has so much time and Maude is someone who loves life, enjoys life, but has little time left. I thought that contrast was so good. I can see why or how this movie would have a cult following because of the history and the multiple topics it brings up. Also Harold and Maude themselves are very interesting characters too. I see people liking Harold’s dark humor and his pranks and I can see people liking Maude’s lifestyle, philosophies, hobbies, style, etc.

I would like to start the review off with the fact that I fairly enjoyed this film. It was full of a dark sense of humor or I like to think so but it also had light-hearted moments which made the film a little soft at times. I would like to call it a rom-com with a dark twist but I would also like to point out that it’s just one of those things that weren’t supposed to work but it did, which is the best kind of film in my opinion. It was the kind of cult film that I had to watch twice because the first time it felt kind of slow and boring but the second time I watched it , I came to see the sense of humor in it . I felt the scene of Harold hanging himself just like his mother did was a lot for me because I've never experienced a film like that before so I thought it was very original. It is a cult film that definitely left me thinking and if I'm being completely honest I still don’t fully understand the plot. Maybe Harold is fiction of Maude's imagination to teach her some kind of life lesson or maybe they are learning something from each other to go on in life. I think after two watches I wouldn't watch it anymore but it is a very nice cult film that i did fairly enjoy.

This is the 2nd “cultural” film that I have seen and I have to say. I really liked this film so much better than the other one. It was very refreshing and funny. There were so many moments that I laughed so hard because the film was just funny. But overall, the movie wasn’t just funny. I enjoyed it because it had a deeper meaning to it. The main character Harold was a young man, who wasn’t really doing much in his life. It showed that his mother was trying to make him into a person what she wants and not what Harold wants. Throughout the film, Harold “kills himself” because that’s what he just does and he even goes to funerals because they think they are fun. During one of the funerals, he meets Maude and Maude is an older woman that just does what she wants. After that, Maude shows him the wonders of doing whatever you want in the world. It’s about being free and not following the rules or anybody’s opinions. Harold begins to be his true self though Maude. We can see this change within Harold with the way he acts and even through his clothing. In the beginning, he would only wear dark clothes, but in the end, he was wearing more colorful clothes. Signifying the change. Watching this movie made me realize that I too should enjoy my life the way I want to and through somebody else. Sure, the movie does have its weird moments, but overall I really enjoyed it. I would actually recommend this movie to anyone. I feel like it would be a nice movie to enjoy. Not too confusing or bad, it’s an overall good move.

Good ole , Harold and Maude. A movie I thought at first was initially very strange and boring , yet as more runtime was playing , began to have more fascinations toward the movie. The plot is very fascinating and rather bizarre as it showcases Harold , a young and confused boy depressingly living through life with ways of committing suicides towards himself in strange ways. Which his movie has no reaction to upon viewing it , leading to have us audience believe she is desensitized towards Harold's strange roleplays. As the movie goes more on we can see that the mother loves Harold as they have a big house and she gifts him with things such as a new car and trying to find him a wife and takes him to therapy. Yet her doing is more of what she thinks is best for him instead of what he believes is best for him which is something that I believe a lot of the audience can relate too when it comes to parenting. Some people never have a say in what they desire or want and are always outed out or considered weird and the parents never do things in the favor of their child. This is something we notice around before half way into the film. What makes the movie really interesting is Harold doesen't have friends yet he befriends an old lady named Maude which he finds quite fascinating out of all people due to her out of ordinary beliefs and ways of going about situations, The audience will be stunned to see the way she avoids police , how she drives , and how she lures Harold into becoming her friend. But what may be the most stunning is how Harold and Maudes' friendship slowly becomes a bond of love and romance where they want to end up being married. Now some say it is an attempt of seducing or manipulation as Maude was able to persuade Harold into loving her but I see it as different. Harold was a very troubled young boy. His mom would set him on dates with women who all found him odd and even tried sending him to the army since his uncle was a well respected figure and even he found Harold to odd to draft . Yet the only person who never found Harold weird and "off" was Maude. She listened to every one of Harold's concerns , interests , and issues. This movie was made in 1971 and still today in 2024 as an audience we can say the world has not changed in terms of society, There will always be people who are outed from the rest and considered "strange" due to their interests yet they just need their voice heard and to feel understood. Maude was the only person that truly understood Harold which led to their bond being very strong. It truly is beautiful to see how one humans actions and change the entire narrative of another persons life which is what I believe should happen more often. The movie might have brought the narrative upon in a controversial way which was a young boy and an old lady falling in love but I believe it is a way of the director saying we are all humans and we are capable of doing extraordinary things towards each other regardless of background. For this reason I would highly recommend watching Harold and Maude to visualize how society is no different from the movies perspective onto todays current society in 2024. Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Harold and the Maude is a funny and boring movie to watch at the same time. Though, it may be disturbing to some people for a young man dating a 80 year old woman, it still have some motive into it like it Maude is teaching Harold how to appreciate life since his pranks on his family is about him killing himself in which he required therapy for it to help him a bit, though none of the therapy doesn't help him at all except for Maude who is doing a great job at helping Harold out of his suicide thoughts. I don't think I would suggest people watch this movie as it will bore them over time but it's not a bad film to watch. Though, the irony of this film is about Maude teaching Harold a lesson or two about living his life, There are some easter eggs that can be seen into this movie like the director of the film can be seen during the Maude and Harold hanging out in the carnival and the scene where Harold is being introduced to his first girlfriend, though after scaring her thinking that he burn himself and ran away from the house, Harold can be seen breaking the fourth wall by looking directly at the camera. And though, the sad part of this movie is when Harold asked Maude to marry him until she revealed to him that she swallowed a pill that made her pass away which made Harold extremely worried and rushed her to the hospital where she later died. In the last scene, Harold can be seen driving his car off the cliff to commit suicide until suddenly, the car fell off the cliffs and Harold was standing on top the cliff playing the banjo the Maude asked him to do as a good habit of life.