Harold and Maude

A delightful cult classic about the unlikely relationship between the morbid teenager Harold and the old anarchist Maude. 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, mocks the bourgeoisie, celebrates free thinking and is also full of the most delightful, absurd paradoxes. The film became incredibly popular when it was released; it was seen dozens, if not a hundred, times by the most devoted fans when it played in cinemas in the USA. Ruth Gordon, who plays Maude, has said that a certain Doug Strand, living in St. Paul and perhaps one of the film's greatest admirers, saw the film 201 times! Harold is a rich but frustrated teenager who, in an attempt 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 during one such visit that he meets the nearly 80-year-old free-spirited life-lover Maude, and the two fall head over heels for each other. In addition to discovering that they are a "match made in heaven", Maude manages to get Harold to see that life doesn't have to be dreary; he just has to dare to let go and focus on what is positive and truly valuable. Harold and Maude is a film that wants to tell us something, a film with a message. But, in keeping with Maude's anarchist philosophy, you can do what you want with that message.