Movies: Harold and Maude

1971 romantic comedy

Rating: 20/20

Plot: Gloomy and asocial Harold gets his kicks faking suicide for the benefit of his mother. While Mom tries to set him up with a suitable mate via a dating service, Harold meets nearly-eighty-year-old Maude under more natural circumstances--while recreationally attending a funeral of somebody he didn't know. They hang out, he falls in love, and she teaches him how to live.

"I suppose you think that's very funny, Harold." What a great first line! This is one of my favorite movies. I sincerely believe that this is one of the most beautiful of cinema's love stories, and I love how a movie that starts with so much death and dark humor ultimately has so much to say about life and how to live it. I also love the humor, the performances from the two leads (the fringe characters are also good), and, even though I'm not exactly a Cat Stevens fan, the music. The screenplay is also really good. Harold and Maude just seems so easy to enjoy; it's effortless and manages to surprise again and again.

4 comments:

l@rstonovichNovember 9, 2009 at 9:27 PM
There are a few occasions when I see that you've done a new post in my Google Reader (sexy) and I think before I click "please let him give it a 20/20 " and on all those occasions you have. good work!
AnonymousNovember 11, 2009 at 7:10 PM
you once told me something to the effect of, i was too close to this movie for me to give it a 20, and that it didn't deserve that high of a score. this was my favorite movie until i saw amelie. to me it was always a 20 and will always be. i love this movie.
ShaneNovember 12, 2009 at 5:45 PM
No, that must have been 'Amelie'...I've always liked 'Harold & Maude' and it gets better every time I see it. That, according to my father, makes it a great movie.
coryNovember 23, 2009 at 3:55 PM
This is one of the funniest movies that I have seen... at least the first half. On the other hand, it has Cat Stevens. And more Cat Stevens. And more Cat Stevens. A half-dozen hilarious fake suicide scenes are balanced by a half-dozen of the most annoying songs that have ever marred a film. A 17 (that's a 20 minus 3 points for the three letters in Cat).