An eccentric to the core, Maude lives exactly as she pleases, with avid collecting and nude modeling among her many pursuits. I applaud a movie that leaves me thinking about it the next day, while also bringing laughter, tears, and a few WTFs along the way. Truth be told, I almost put “Dance to the beat of your own drum”, so there’s that. Harold and Maude is a 1971 American film directed by and released by . Harold, on the other hand, has an obsession with death and at every opportunity he seeks to shock people by pretending to kill himself or others. Maude (played by Ruth Gordon) won an Oscar for her supporting turn in Rosemary’s Baby a few years earlier. An editor Harold's militaristic uncle comes across as comical in his war-mongering vices-right down to his armless right sleeve that salutes when he pulls the string. Danced by Harold and Maude . What I found most enjoyable about the movie is how many quotes, lessons, and themes that truly can be found throughout the short hour and a half film. The Klaxon They’re so tall and simple. The counterculture of this time is represented in all types of media and film. She encourages Harold to recognize his own individuality and find self-esteem in it. Where one is absent, so is the other, neither able to exist in isolation without the other. You just can’t let the world judge you too much.” In our society, I feel like we’re always on alert because anything we do can be so easily captured on Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, etc…I’m not always the best at letting my guard down, but I’m learning to just laugh off my imperfect moments and move on. The Question and Answer section for Harold and Maude is a great Aside from the depression/medication/suicide undertones, the Harold & Maude theme song by Cat Stevens, "If You Wanna Sing Out, Sing Out" is sung by characters in two scenes. So, here’s to living a life full of stories to tell and being unapologetic about it. Harold meets Maude, and their relationship is all about her teaching him how to live his life to the full as life itself is the greatest gift anyone can have. Whether she is parking her car downtown (if what she did can truly be called “parking”), stealing a priest’s car, uprooting trees, or running from the police, she signifies the idea of free will. Harold, on the other hand, has an obsession with death and at every opportunity he seeks to shock people by pretending to kill himself or others. Really felt. When he meets Maude, a 79-year-old woman who believes 80 is the right age to die, he finds someone who shares his carefree confrontational view of the world. ( Log Out /  Maude: “I should like to change into a sunflower most of all. I am discussing the way Ashby used montage to convey the emotional turmoil experienced by Harold, as well as the way the juxtaposition of montage and long takes demonstrates Harold’s ultimate character arc. OBSESSED. Harold and Maude is a cult classic from the 1970’s that defined film making today. Expectation Main Character Problem. You can help us out by revising, improving and updating He even goes so far as to marry Maude, an 80 year old woman he's just met. Harold and Maude (Blu-ray Disc) : Countercultural director Hal Ashby tells the story of the emotional and romantic bond between a death-obsessed young man from a wealthy family and a devil-may-care, bohemian octogenarian. Not affiliated with Harvard College. GradeSaver, 3 May 2019 Web. He even goes so far as to marry Maude, an 80 year old woman he's just met. However, I will say that a friendship between these two is the center of the movie. A soul mate never has to be a perfect match on the outside. The three poisons are represented as a pig (ignorance), rooster (attachment) and snake (aversion) in the Bhavacakra. Yet, as she opens her mouth, her words deliver quotes that knock you on your ass, while also giving you this moment of clarity. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. Which, I hope that you all will agree with me when I say that’s a huge statement. At the end of the day, I couldn’t imagine a lovelier farewell. Equal parts gallows humor and romantic innocence, Harold and Maude dissolves the line between darkness and light along with the ones that separate people by class, … This one-of-a-kind creation was one I did see back in the day, back when movies like Harold and Maude were mostly only seen at "art" theaters—in the burbs around Kansas City and, later, Detroit, where I was hanging out in my late teens, early 20s. Slacker Uprising (2007) Moore mentions it as a great film. 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