Here's my very long analysis of Harold and Maude which I offer as part of the Re-Write, write off. Hope you enjoy the new and improved version.

Harold and Maude remains in many ways a timeless film that celebrates life through characters who either are obsessed with death or are very well acquainted with dying and suffering. We are all going to die, and no matter how we embrace or deny that fact, at some point life as we know it ends.

Now isn't that a wonderful way to begin a very long analysis about a very funny and poignant film?

When I reviewed the film here many months ago, I did not write a review that was personal enough. Maybe I was chicken, maybe I was lazy or maybe it just wasn't time for me to write the review I needed to about this film. The review I did write, (included below) is a pretty mediocre (and much shorter) one.

Harold and Maude is a unique one of a kind film. It has very dark and broad humor, but is also a film full of quiet under-stated moments. It is a film that risks everything as it veers away from being a quirky comic character study and focuses on the unique life-changing romance. A romance that was bold, controversial and shocking then and still remains so today. A romance, which still makes viewers very uncomfortable. The film has a memorable soundtrack by Cat Stevens whose song lyrics are used to further the mood, tone and texture of the film. The two original Steven's songs written specifically for the film are DON'T BE SHY and IF YOU WANT TO SING OUT, SING OUT. IF YOU WANT TO SING OUT serves as an anthem for Maude's philosophy of living. Both Hal Ashby and Cat Stevens purposely decided against releasing an official soundtrack album. The film contained several previously recorded Stevens's songs (from Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the Tillerman), and the two original songs only became available many years later on record and CD (with the exception of an un-official and illegal Japanese soundtrack album)..

This is your last warning. If you haven't seen this cult film classic, stop reading this review right now and go see it Please. Pretty please. You can only see the film with virgin eyes once. If you are interested in a unique quirky, one of a kind comedy that will amuse, shock, and touch you... Harold and Maude will do that and more. Come back and read my review later.

The opening sequence for those watching the film, Harold and Maude for the first time is a shocker. A shocker that twists into a delicious bit of dark comedy. It should be noted that while Bud Court and Ruth Gordon will forever be identified and remembered as Harold and Maude, a great deal of the film's success is also because of the perfect casting and brilliant performance of Vivian Pickles as Harold's Mom. Her impeccable line readings and comedic timing allow the dark humor to have a cruel edge, yet be laugh out loud funny. She is a perfect foil for Harold's suicidal tableaux's. It is her underplayed reactions, which make the comedy even more memorable than it would have been
Harold and Maude was originally written by Colin Higgins to be a half hour Master's thesis film. Instead Higgins expanded it to feature length and quickly sold it to Paramount with an agreement that he would do a test and prove he was capable of directing the film. Higgins did shoot test footage but Paramount decided they didn't want to make a low budget film with Higgins directing but wanted a medium budgeted 1.2 million film made with the material and that required a more seasoned director to direct the film. Higgins would write Silver Streak and finally get his chance to write and direct a film with 1978's Foul Play (Chevy Chase) and 1980's Nine to Five. He also wrote and directed Best Little Who-house in Texas. (Higgins died of Aids in 1988 at age 47)

Director Hal Ashby (The Landlord -1970) was hired to direct Harold and Maude. Ashby had a couple of important strengths, which served the Harold, and Maude project well. Strengths which later became even more apparent with his subsequent films. First was his timing-both comedic and dramatic. Ashby's sense of pace was different from many filmmakers and no doubt developed as a result of his experience being a film editor. All of his best films have a wonderful, unique sense of timing and pace-Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo, Bound for Glory and to slightly lesser extent, The LandLord, Being There and Coming Home. He was also able to coax the very best out of his actors (look at what he did for Peter Sellers in Being There, Ruth Gordon and Vivian Pickles in Harold and Maude or David Carradine in Bound for Glory, not to mention the casts of Shampoo, The Last Detail or Coming Home). He needed a strong cinematographer to make his films really sing out visually however. He was able to compose impressive frames, but we can see something altogether different in a film such as Bound for Glory (which was shot by Haskell Wexler). Ashby's downfall was undoubtedly due to changing times which meant he had less control over his films then studio executives and marketing departments did. His delicate sense of timing was lost when non-film-maker committees got involved with the creation of the film as is evidenced with the last film's he made The Sluggers Wife and Eigh Million Ways to Die

Just prior to Harold and Maude's release, Variety declared that the "tasteless film" was unlikely to meet with any box-office success. However many critics found much to like about the unique film. Film Quarterly in 1972 declared the film an important, daring and successful political film that dared to allow the character of Maude to mouth controversial libertarian beliefs. It was viewed and embraced by audiences and some critics as an anti-establishment film and gained a strong cult following that increased, as the film was periodically re-released over the next several years

One of the reasons Harold and Maude works as well as it does is because of its near perfect sense of pacing. Even though a particular scene may be dated and it's satire too obvious the film's internal rhythms and beats never feel forced. It's also easy to forgive a film, whose heart and soul are in the right place. In addition the film contains some surprisingly subtle moments which add an incredible depth and richness to the film. A richness few discover until they have watched the film a few times. What do I mean? I'll explain that later.

Harold and Maude is a film that continually surprises the viewer. It's a film which seems at times to embrace anarchy but then shows us in it's tale of a seemingly death obsessed youth's unique romance with a live for the moment 79 year old woman how precious and magical life truly is. It's a film that moment to moment is weaker then its whole--, a film which can not be labeled and a film that serves as example at how futile criticism can sometimes be. It's an utterly impure work of art. Impure because it is not only a flawed film but it is also a film that is in many ways a product of its time yet remains in other way utterly timeless. A film which delights in being subversive, yet ultimately challenges us to embrace the simplest and most human of emotions: Life, while examining the complex subject of love: Parental love, friendship love, romantic love and self-love. It's a film that might very well be saying that the road to inner peace is learning to accept and embrace the hypocrisy and contradictions of life. It's a film that begins by telling a sick joke and ends with what some can and have interpreted as a hypocritical act that doesn't seem to gel with it's life affirming message. Yet precisely because it ends the way it does, it makes many contemplate all the possible meanings the ending embraces.

In the meantime, those of you who have not seen the film, or whose memory of the film is less than sharp (and I'm certain this applies to at least a few of you), let me again ask you to stop reading this review and go watch the film. Try to get a hold of the DVD version of the film which includes a good transfer of the film and a nice 5.1 mix of the film.

Harold and Maude begins as a character study of a seemingly death obsessed teenager, Harold Chasen who lives with his wealthy and snobbish mother, Mrs. Chasen. Harold's mother is a female control freak who keeps her emotions in check by burying them in her strict daily regiments, social activities and in obsessing on what is best for her only son, Harold. Harold is a spoiled rich child who has been allowed to indulge himself in almost any fashion he desires. However, Harold does not have a strong male figure in his life and makes it his mission to get attention and an honest emotion from his mother.

How does he get his mother to react and show him emotionally that she loves him? By dying. He discovered this secret by accident (and we learn all about this when he explains later in the film to Maude, how his hobby of staging suicides began). Harold gets attention by staging his own suicide. Does Harold really want to commit suicide? Of course not. It's a macabre sick game to Harold. A game in which he hopes at times to reach his mother emotionally. Mom however is pretty used to Harold's ways. She tries successfully for the most part to ignore him. Harold however is as stubborn as his mother is. He is determined to get a reaction from her. What worked once, will work again. Besides it is fun to misbehave and rebel.

Harold in his focused determination to affect his mother has become obsessed with death. He dresses in dark clothing, he drives a 1959 Cadillac Hearse and he attends funeral services for people he doesn't know.

After a particularly gory mock suicide, Mom sends Harold off to a psychiatrist (well played by G. Wood) and then for a heart to heart talk with his Uncle Victor (Charles Tyner). Uncle Victor is a Korean War Hero, who lost his arm in battle and became a one star general, but is too right wing to advance his life-long military career any further.

The psychiatrist and talk with Uncle Victor only make Harold rebel more. He rebels by staging yet another suicide, this time as a drowning in the swimming pool, Mom regularly exercises in. She completely ignores him.

Mom decides that it's time for Harold to grow up and get married and she plans on finding him a perfect mate.

Harold rushes off to church. It's while attending this funeral service he first meets the strange 79 year old woman named Maude. And at first he rejects the annoying old woman. However he begins to admire Maude, after she drives off in the priests' (a well cast Eric Christmas) car. That's right, Maude has stolen the priest's car.

Harold's mom announces to Harold that she has registered him with a dating service to find him a suitable mate. They sit down to fill out the dating service profile together, but Mom winds up filling out the form for Harold and answering the personal questions meant for Harold herself. Harold takes the opportunity to shoot himself in the head. His Mom's reaction is to the loud noise of the gun, more than to Harold's mock suicide.

Harold then attends a graveside funeral service in the rain. He spots Maude in the back of the crowd. She is not only wearing bright clothing, but she is also noisily eating some Oranges. He's a bit embarrassed but curious about this strange old lady. Soon Maude invites Harold to her place. Maude lives in a converted rail road car which was given to her by a friend, a locksmith, who decided to change his life and become a Tibetan monk. He gave Maude his collection of master keys and the use of his Rail Road Car home. We've just been given a touch of insight into Maude's somewhat Buddhist philosophy toward life.

We start to get to know Maude a little better through Harold for the rest of the film. Its impossible on one or even two viewings of the film however to really catch all of the little throw-away lines or even fully comprehend some of the things Maude quietly says. You don't need to understand Maude's background (as much as it possible to do so does) to enjoy and appreciate the film however. It does make the film a particularly satisfying one to watch several times however.

Harold tries to shock his mother by staging another mock suicide in front of one of his prospective dates. Mom strikes back by taking away Harold's beloved 1959 Cadillac Hearse and buying him a BRAND new Jaguar XKE Series 2 Roadster. Harold strikes back by transforming the Jaguar into a compact stylized Hearse. It turns out Harold is quite a handy young man with a blowtorch. He also stages another mock suicide in front of another girl from the dating service Mom is anxious for Harold to meet. The 'dates' reactions to Harold's mock suicides are shock and hysteria of course. At least that's the reaction most of them have.

Maude meanwhile has realized Harold is not enjoying life and in fact doesn't even really know how to enjoy life and so decides to make it her mission to show him how. This includes having Harold meet her at a friend's house before they have a picnic lunch. The friend is an artist named Glaucus, who is carving a nude out of ice. Yes, Maude is posing nude for him. (As originally conceived there was a longer and additional scene originally planned for the ice sculptor). Later Maude shows off her paintings, plays and sings Harold the song; If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out and then suggests he teach himself to play an instrument, a banjo. "Because music is the cosmic dust of life!" She'll also share some other unique hobbies of hers with Harold.

Harold and Maude's friendship deepens. Maude has allowed Harold to get to her know better. She has taken Harold on a little adventure, which involves saving a dying tree by stealing it and replanting it in the woods. A journey that nearly gets them arrested by a motorcycle cop played by Tom Skerritt (he's not billed at Tom S. but it is him and he has shared some stories about how he was heavily improvising his lines while Ruth Gordon was sticking to the script adding to the dynamic of the roles they were playing).

Harold's Mom meanwhile finally decides that Harold needs discipline and it will require Uncle Victor and the military to give it to him. Here is the most seriously dated part of the film. Uncle Victor's character is too broad to be re-introduced into the film at this time and the sequence feels too much like a piece of sketch comedy--trying to hard to please its intended young audience.

Its interesting to note that as originally conceived by writer Colin Higgins, this sub-plot was intended to be better integrated into the film. Harold we come to realize is mechanically gifted and we have seen him transform the Jaguar into a compact Hearse. In the screen story, writer Higgins also had Harold building himself a special breathing device that he can hide under his clothes which allows him to stage an earlier suicide by drowning for his mother. This breathing device is meant to be utilized again by Maude, when Harold and Maude come up with their plan to save Harold from being inducted into military service by Uncle Victor. In the finished film we never see the special device or an actual scene where Harold and Maude plan the rather elaborately staged come-uppance of Uncle Victor. We don't need to see these scenes and perhaps the films pace would have been affected adversely with their conclusion. The scenes that remain are too broad and their pay-off to obvious and dated

It is soon after the near slapstick sequence the film delivers it's deepest and most profound scene. A quiet subtle almost throw-away scene that most viewers (myself included) don't usually completely understand the first time they view the film.

During the scene when Harold and Maude are observing the sunset, Maude rolls up her sleeves and declares to Harold out-loud that he makes her feel 'like a little girl.' As she does this, Harold notices the concentration camp tattoo on her wrist. You only see the tattoo for a moment and it's not mentioned verbally. At that moment one might make a connection to an earlier scene where Maude suddenly becomes very lost in her memories of her youth and talks of the love of her life-- a man named Frederick. Maude doesn't actually indicate or acknowledge that she is aware Harold has seen her tattoo, but the little story she is telling has a very special meaning.... If you catch it and understand.

As Harold notices the tattoo on Maude's wrist, Maude is watching the seagulls, flying in front of the setting sun. It reminds Maude of a story told by Dreyfus. Dreyfus was imprisoned in solitary confinement on Devil's Island (in French Guyana) and had little to do but stare out of his cell. Maude quotes Dreyfuss as she watches the seagulls, saying Maude:" It was as Dreyfus said as he stared out of his cell. . . he thought they were most beautiful birds in the world. Later on in Brittany, he said, I realized that they had only been seagulls." Maude pauses and then adds: "for me they will always be glorious birds."

After another moment, Harold who probably doesn't quite understand what Maude has said completely, puts his arm around her and they watch the sunset over San Francisco Bay.

Dreyfus was a famous French Jewish army officer who was unjustly accused of selling military secrets in the late 1800's and sentenced to solitary confinement on Devil's Island.

It is in this little moment we realize that Maude is a concentration camp survivor. Her experiences obviously made life very precious for her and rather than be bitter about her experience she developed a zest and acceptance of life that she wants Harold to understand. She has let Harold completely know about her-by exposing her tattoos to him-and at the same time told him, how she most likely survived the horrible experience with her sanity-by focusing on and appreciating the beauty of what little life and nature she could find to appreciate.

One should consider that Maude lives in a converted rail road car. (A rail road car was probably how she was transported to the Concentration camp.) Maude was most likely forever separated from the true love of her life, Frederick, when she was arrested and sent to the camp. We know from what she has said earlier that Frederick was 'too serious', perhaps like Harold has been too serious. Perhaps Harold in many ways reminds her of Frederick. We have seen Maude rescue a trapped and dying tree by defying both the law and it's enforcer-a policeman and we are observing Maude making a huge difference and rescuing Harold.

The sunset scene does not linger. It leads to Harold announcing to his Mom that he intends on asking Maude to marry him. She shows his Mom a picture. Mom is shocked. Harold visits Uncle Victor, then the psychiatrist and then the priest. They are baffled, disturbed or downright disgusted by Harold's intention of marrying a woman old enough to be his grandmother. Harold doesn't care. He has found someone he loves and he wants to marry her, keep her, and possess her. . . perhaps.

When Harold later proclaims his love for Maude with a gift, a ring. Maude says it is the nicest gift anyone has given her in a long time and then throws the gift immediately into the water. This shocks and temporarily hurts Harold until she explains: "So I'll always know where it is."

Possessions and life are temporary is what Maude teaches Harold. It is what you do every day with your life each and every day that matters most.

We next see Harold in bed with Maude. She is asleep as he blows bubbles, enjoying his love hangover fully. (Note: Ashby originally planned to include a passionate kiss between Harold and Maude, but decided to leave it out of the film. He knew the film would create enough controversy and inspire plenty of discussion about the film without it).

And then it is time to celebrate Maude's 80th Birthday-Harold proposes to Maude and learns she has taken a large quantity of pills to end her life. WHAAAAT !!!!

Maude wants Harold to understand that being obsessed with death or life or a possession or anyone particular cause or belief will prevent you from experiencing all that life has to offer. It is time for Maude to die and Harold to live. Harold finally is able to let go of his past and is ready to discover who he really is, what he really wants and begin his life's journey.

We can conclude that Maude's traumatic concentration camp experiences gave her an incredibly deep appreciation of life but she was only able to live life to the fullest by knowing she was able to control when her life would end. Then and only then would she be continually conscious of how precious her life was. Knowing when it would end gave her the complete freedom to be the best person she could be. We also know that suicide is a selfish and utterly indulgent act and is often a shout for attention. Maude certainly led a self-indulgent life. A life spent protesting the wrongs of the world. We know she was outspoken prior to her Concentration Camp confinement and was probably arrested because of her outspoken political beliefs and not her religion. Maude is probably not Jewish at all (though we do not know this for a fact). We also know she was active in various movements after she got out of the Concentration Camps. She tells Harold for several years her activism has been personal and not associated with any particular group. We know Maude had made the decision to die on her 80th birthday and she had lived with that decision for quite some time. Harold lived a life of wealth and craved the love and affection of his mother and the need to somehow be individualistic. He created a prison for himself with obsessions. He needed to change his life, and while his mother knew a drastic change was what was necessary she was unable to reach Harold after keeping him at arm's length from her for so long. Maude was able to make an important connection with Harold. Perhaps it was her destiny and purpose to meet Harold.

Regardless it is only after Maude's death that Harold comes to truly understand the lessons Maude was teaching him about living life.

That makes the film at its core a spiritual one, not a political one. On the surface it is a political film and by it's breaking of so many taboos it makes several strong statements that can be viewed as anti-establishment, anti-religious dogma, and extremely subversive.

However, there's more than that one can take from Harold and Maude.

The film, I should point out judges Harold and Maude's relationship as pure, and those who object to it are obviously close minded, hypocritical or jealous. The film's messages speak directly toward an individual's rights to hold their own system of personal beliefs. The film also suggests that individual rights might need to be protected politically, but that morals, community standards, and religious beliefs which form the basis for some degree of conformity and the foundation for civilized society can also affect an individual's most personal freedoms and their ability to accept what is true to themselves which affects being able to find true happiness.

The film challenges it's viewers to examine pre-conceived notions of what is right, what is wrong, what is acceptable, and what is not.

It's final judgement is that life itself is precious and to be savored and enjoyed to the best of one's ability every day. However the film presents characters that are sinners, who break rules and even play God.

The audience is left to wrestle with the many questions the film poses. And there are no easy answers to these questions as they rely on our personal beliefs. Beliefs, which might have been disturbed by the film, we have just watched.

So maybe it isn't really as simple as If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out or maybe if you have the courage and strength to form your own individualist belief it is that simple.

Okay, there's also one other important reason why this film is very special to me. Ruth Gordon's Maude reminds me of my Grandmother. My grandmother was not an outrageous character like Maude, but she appreciated life at times with a similar zest and energy that Maude did. My Grandmother helped me to appreciate the importance of being an individual. She influenced me to strive to enjoy and experience as much out of life as I could-because life was precious and too short. She helped me more than anyone else when I was growing up to believe in myself and always approached all challenges with the knowledge that I could do anything I set my mind to do--I could even write a good review/analysis of Harold and Maude if I set my mind to do it.

I enjoyed writing this and even if you disagree with me (somewhat or completely) about Harold and Maude, I hope you have a special film, book, piece of music, a painting, a sculpture, a photograph or anything that touches you and reminds you to appreciate yourself and what life has to offer. I also hope you take a small risk and share your appreciation (expose yourself a little bit) of something you like a lot with someone else. Try to help someone else see what you see through your eyes, so they will help you to see something they see with theirs. We all see things from our own unique perspectives anyway.


Here then is the vastly inferior, though much shorter original review I wrote and posted at epinions in July of 2000. A review that was seen by 45 people but only rated by a total of 6 Epinion member. One person over-praised the review as Very Helpful, Four found it helpful and one rated it Somewhat Helpful that averaged into an over-all Helpful grade.

I'm certainly glad this write-off gave me the spark I needed to better communicate my feelings for this film.

THE OLD ORIGINAL REVIEW
An utterly original Cult Classic

Pros: Bud Court, Ruth Gordon, black comedy, charm, and music

Cons: some topical satire is dated, it has a very cruel streak
running through nearly half the film.

Plot Details: This opinion reveals no details about the movie's plot

I first saw Harold and Maude in its 1973 re-release in Theatres. I was actually at the theatre because of the sneak preview of Walking Tall that was being shown.

I had never seen a film which balanced so many odd and perhaps disturbing revelations and plot turns involving youth, authority figures, death, life, old age, faith, compassion, war, hope and love. Nor had I seen a film which was brutally cruel and surprisingly funny one moment and sensitive, compassionate and unflinchingly truthful the next.

I had never seen a film, which integrated song lyrics into the narrative of the film the way Cat Steven's music and lyrics are utilized throughout much of the film.

I had glimpsed Bud Cort in Mash, but as Harold, Cort personified what today one would call an ultimate David Lynch character. Ruth Gordon gives one of her bravest and finest performances as Maude.

I am fully aware of the film's flaws. Parts of it are dated, yet still retain the humor, passion, meaning and charm they always did.

It's a film that has become a full-blown religious experience for me and I kneel at its altar every 6 to 9 months without fail.

I've interested dozens of people the film and even those who hate Cat Stevens' music are charmed and become fans of the film.

It's one of the strangest yet most wonderful films you will ever see. Some of it is very funny, some of it will make you uncomfortable, a lot of it is very odd, but ultimately it's message, meaning and pureness will win you over.

Its opening sequence is one of the most shocking and surprising of its day. I won't spoil the film by revealing any of its delicious surprises. If you haven't seen the film, see it as soon as possible.

And That's that. Now don't blame me entirely for this thing. This particular review is part of that Scmrak's idea for a RE-Write-off, write off. That's where folks who are participating are re-writing, presumably improving past reviews they have written for your reading enjoyment.

The participants in this wonderful write-off are of course all deserving of your attention and include:
1truluv , adjensen , arada392 ,bermudabum , bmcnichol, cartman_2k, ChrisJarmick,
colldy, ed_grover, eplovejoy, fallyn96, jankp, jcvsmom, jo.com , joubert, korova, lynnzop, machkick magenta321 msmorvay naphtalia nfp proeditor
quasar, saxguy, scmrak, sloucho, Social14, and tinasamuels.


I guess a quick link to the reviews can be found at

http://www.epinions.com/user-eplovejoy

Thanks for taking a little time reading what many of these fine writers have contributed to this
Excellent idea for a write-off.


Christopher Jarmick, is the author of The Glass Cocoon with Serena F. Holder a steamy suspense thriller which is now available (glasscocoon@hotmail for details).

Original portions of this review Copyright© Christopher J. Jarmick 2001. The above
work is protected by international copyright law.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older