Harold & Maude (1971) (Film Review)

Harold and Maude (1971) follows an affluent young man named Harold who is obsessed with death. At a funeral he mets an eclectic mature woman named Maude and the two strike up a unique friendship. Two people advised me to see this film. As soon as I started it, I knew it was a cult film. It’s listed under Drama… but yet, I found almost everything funny. Or touching. Unfortunately, it was a flop when it came out. Just like The Big Lebowski, I think. Just as Rodriguez’s music is used in Sugar Man, Cat Stevens’ mu s used magnificently here.

I found three ultra-negative reviews that made me laugh out loud because they weren’t constructive and they didn’t understand the film at all. Neither its beauty nor its subtlety!

1) “Terrible…… tasteless film… Is that cult?”

2) “Simply horrible For all the people lucky enough not to see this film who are under 80, this film is horrible! Really!”

3) “Snores. The music was and remains excellent, the death sequences too, of course. But apart from that, the film totally let me down. A story that’s dismal, a shame for the admittedly great potential. “

I love reading negative reviews. If I hated a film, I feel less alone. But if I loved the film, that reassures me too: I tell myself that I’ve been lucky enough to understand what others couldn’t in a lifetime.

Harold and Maude surprises from start to finish. Sure, it’s a black comedy, but it’s really funny. Every actor and actress is perfect. In every detail. I’m blown away by how avant-garde the film is. All the dialogue is still very topical. Apart from the clothes, the cars and the telephone technology, this film hasn’t really aged. We see computer dating, existential problems, communication with parents and so on.

The unhappiness, the forbidden but very real love, it’s all there in this film that doesn’t even last an hour and a half. A true masterpiece that I could watch again and again. In fact, I’ve almost watched it twice already.

The lead actress, Ruth Gordon, lived from 30 October 1896 to 28 August 1985. She was an American actress, playwright and screenwriter. She won the Oscar in 1969 for her supporting role in Rosemary’s Baby, for which she had already been nominated three times as screenwriter.

As for Bud Cort, who plays Harold, he is the son of a conductor and pianist and a journalist. He was discovered by Robert Altman, who first gave him a small role in his war comedy MASH in 1970, then cast Cort in the lead role in his next film, Brewster McCloud, the same year. In the 1970s, other leading roles in films and Broadway plays followed.

In 1979, Cort was involved in a serious car accident on his way back from a Frank Sinatra concert. He suffered a fractured skull, various cuts to his face, a broken arm and leg and lost several teeth. He had to spend several months in hospital for plastic surgery and his career was put on hold. With his new face, he hardly got any leading roles. He proved just how versatile and chameleonic he was in independent films.

In the 1980s, Cort appeared more and more on television. He played the lead in the 1987 film Psycho II l, a sequel to Psycho. He was offered the role of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but turned it down because he didn’t want to limit himself to portraying mentally disturbed people. He had a great career. He even played a recurring villain in a Superman series.

Interesting fact: In the 1970s, Bud Cort lived for several years in the house of his close friend Groucho Marx, who was an American actor and artist. As the spiritual spokesman for the Marx Brothers, he became one of the most famous English-speaking comedians.

My Rating