MOVIE REACTION Harold and Maude (1971) PATRON PICK First Time Watching Reaction/Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ต.ค. 2024
- Cat Stevens rules! Unfortunately, we had to cut some of the most moving moments from this reaction to avoid the songs.
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On first watch, you don't know to pay attention, but Maude, from her first meeting with Harold, specifies she has decided living past 80 is a waste, says things like, "Well, after Friday, it won't make any difference..." it's clear this was a life plan she had before they met. There is a ton of meaning woven into the dialogue and subtext of this script. As you said, having lived through what she has, she is never surrendering agency again. It's hard, and the writing esoteric, but it's fascinating.
It's not her life long plan. But most people who commit suicide have planned it for some time and actually show less depression when they've decided on it. So they may seem fine to people. It's important to listen to what they are saying and doing.
This is one of the greatest movies of all time.
I will die on this hill.
I agree ❤
With me by your side.
Perhaps my favorite movie. Defintely my favorite soundtrack.
Earlier in the film Maude tells Harold 80 yrs old is the time to end it. Later, she mentions "it'll all be over soon." So there are subtle hints that it was going to happen. Harold obsessed by death, Maude obsessed with life. Maude dies, Harold learns to live. Perfect screenplay. My favorite film of all time. Thanks for reviewing.
They missed it cause they were flappin' gums.
These kinda movies tend to take a big hit from Reations, due to the need to talk often being two-fold. Audience and YT regs.
This film (and frankly Many films of that era, demand to be Watched sans quips and pressure, to really feel the intent. I mean, they were still discussing if they were real suicide attempts well into the flick.
Still, an enjoyable watch. Thanks for doing this one.
It's really is a Great film .
This movie gets better with multiple viewings. Cat Stevens rules.
My favorite movie of all time. Every time I see it I notice/figure out something new. And I've seen it HUNDREDS of times. Literally.
I love how he dresses just like his shrink to mock him
War is present in every aspect of this film. Vietnam was an ever-present constant in that time period and affected the lives of everyone. Since it appears that Harold had not been drafted, and was not in college, he likely had deferments arranged by his family, (or was recipient of a very high draft number) but the shadow of going to war was still a possibility -the end of the war was still over 4 years away when this was made. Even the matters of Harold’s suicides echoed war deaths and self immolation was an event that people saw happening with some frequency by Buddhist priests to protest the wars in Asia.
WW2 and 1 are referenced. Maude would have born approximately 1891 and would have experienced both world wars as a person growing up in Europe, and been a part of women’s struggle for the right to vote. It is implied that she was also a part of the move to work for peace during WW1, when all war protesters were labeled as radical, communist, or anarchists (echoed during the Vietnam protests.) And very few films up to then had referenced the Holocaust (Sidney Lumet’s “The Pawnbroker” in 1964 was one.) Director Hal Ashby did not focus on it an obvious or sentimental way; one quick shot of the tattoo, and Harold’s quick reaction were simple and let the audience absorb the message. People knew enough then to supply their own emotional response and realization of her life story without the film having to instruct the audience how to feel.
For a Concentration Camp survivor, having control over one’s life and death was important after being victimized by unexpected, random and undeserved imprisonment, torture or deaths.
Students in the late 1950’s and throughout the 60’s studied Existentialism, read Camus and Sartre, where suicide, life and death were commonly discussed, so the audience seeing this film would have been exposed to these controversial topics, as well as the post-war films from Europe such as the Italian neo-realists.
We don’t know if Maude lost her family in the Holocaust but there is a strong indication that she wanted to pass along her messages to a younger generation about living one’s life intensely and on one’s own terms, and to find courage and feel love, to learn and experience as much as possible during whatever time one has. She accomplished that with Harold so her last goal had been achieved. She had survived the worst possible situations, but had known a meaningful life and experienced joy and happiness. It is interesting that many Holocaust survivors poured their messages into humor and beauty through art, whether in writing, acting, painting or music. At the film’s end, Harold gets rid of his connection to death (by destroying the car) and has finally realized the deeper impact of the reality of death, suicide, pain and loss, and he is now ready to begin his journey.
Many films in the 70’s had ambiguous endings, or included elements that could seem mysterious or even contradictory; audiences then accepted films which could be interpreted many ways and led to discussions and debates. However, this film was not as successful when released as it has become now, but Hal Ashby was known for films that were considered off-beat or even difficult to watch. He was an influential and award-winning director throughout the 70’s (The Last Detail, Shampoo, Bound for Glory, Coming Home, Being There) after winning an Oscar for editing for In The Heat of The Night. His films definitely reflect a passion for exploring individual rights, creative freedom, and the consequences of violence, conformity and warfare.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
Great write up!
Being There is an Amazingly Overlooked film. WELL worth a watch.
Harold crashes funerals because on their surface, they're about death.
Maude crashes them because they're really about celebrating life.
The Auschwitz tattoo. One shot. Alters what you thought about the character and crystalizes everything. Raises the level of the film from cute comedy to All-time Classic film. One shot.
You were speaking over each other when Maude was telling Harold she was going to kill herself on her 80th birthday. I knew you weren't going to understand her taking the pills.🤯
You totally missed the deal with the car!
He bought that hearse at a junkyard and fixed it up himself. The only thing he's ever done for himself and on his own, and mom trashes it without a single care for his feelings
Harold's mother's reaction when she thought he was dead, was performative. It was excessively dramatic and that's what hurt him. Knowing she didn't love him.
She's not unhinged. She's eccentric, and alive.The yellow umbrella represents life🎉
I absolutely identified with the overall mood of H&M when I was a darkly anxious teen.
My Mom had medical assisted death due to dementia weeks ago. She and I watched this movie thirty years ago. My first time. My fave ever since, love CAT!.Thanks!
My goodness. My girlfriend when I was a freshman in college dragged me to this when it was in the theaters. Original Goth with the original manic pixie dream girl...never thought of it that way.
You're also right about Cat Stevens. The 70s was a decade of lots of wildly different entertainment. Media corporations were willing to just throw stuff on the walls and see if they stuck with audiences...not everything was calculated back then.
She tells him in the beginning “ it’ll all be over “ when she’s 80
Also she was a holocaust survivor
- it’s the damage not the years
Fainting wasn’t an indication that she at least had a bit of affection for him but quite the opposite. Falling into the arms of the police officers was an act of drama designed to focus sympathy and attention on her. She’s a completely self-absorbed uncaring socialite with no real emotional connection to her son and that was the moment of realization for Harold. His faked suicide attempts were designed to both try and get some genuine caring reaction from her and punish her at the same time.
The term "Generation Gap" was coined in the 60s, the disconnect between the WW2 Generation and their children, the Boomers .......This movie makes the point to us "kids"...(I'm 68 now)....that yes, the gap is there between Harold and his mother, but older people don't HAVE to be "the enemy".....they're people, and individuals, too......Wonderful reaction fellas. Thanks for sharing.
Love your observation. I’m so glad to have lived during this period. Don’t you think these two guys from Catch up Packets need a Maude in their lives? No shade. Just an observation.😅
“General MacArthur’s right-hand man” and his right arm is missing, surprised that you seemed to miss that.
Great reaction to this classic! I so appreciate your exploration of the many layers of Harold, Maude, and the film. This movie is a true gem.
There's so much to unpack in this great film. For example, the real reason Maude decided to end her life at 80 was handed to you so subtly that it takes multiple viewings to see it. It's because she was once in a terrible situation where someone else had the ultimate power to decide for her when she would die. It's shadowed again in the lyrics of "Where Do the Children Play." "Will you make us laugh?" (A reference to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where the Nazis shot propaganda films to show the world that the Jews were happy where they were.) "Will you make us cry? Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die?" She must have decided then, that she would choose when she will die. Also, the end scene where the car drives off the cliff, and the reveal is Harold with the banjo, that was the symbolism, signaling the end of his death shenanigan pranks. The song he's playing is "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out." Brilliant ending. I first saw this film in 1977 at the age of 13. It was the lowest point in my life as a depressed and alienated teen, already wondering if I should bother being here. My eldest sister showed it to me, and it changed the course of my thinking. I'm 60 years old now.
So glad you watched this magnificent film! The set up shots, lighting, etc, remind me of a cross between Wes Anderson and Kubrick circa 1971 Clockwork Orange. The true beauty of the film though, is obviously Harold and Maude’s fascinating relationship. She changes him so much and for the better. ❤
Cat Stevens is actually in the movie, as a guest at one of the funerals who is annoyed by Maude trying to attract Harold's attention.
I was 11 when the movie came out so my first acquaintance with it was the MAD magazine parody (I miss those; your generation is deprived). By the time I saw it in college in 1978 it was well-established as a cult classic.
Ruth Gordon was a fascinating woman. She started out acting on stage, except for a few silent movies in 1915 when the movie industry was still concentrated around NYC. She didn't return to movies until 1940, when she was 44. She then married actor/director/screenwriter Garson Kanin, and they were apparently very popular in Hollywood for hosting great parties. She cowrote several screenplays with her husband, most notably two Spencer Tracy/Katherine Hepburn comedies directed by their mutual friend George Cukor: _Adam's Rib_ (which incorporated a lot of their own relationship) and _Pat and Mike_ . She wrote an autobiographical play about her relationship with her father and early days as an actress, which was successful enough that Cukor asked to make it into a movie, for which she wrote the screenplay: 1953's _The Actress_ , starring Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons, and Anthony Perkins. At 72 she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 1968's _Rosemary's Baby_ , which led to a late-career renaissance which included _Harold and Maude_ , and she worked until her death at 88. In some ways she was a precursor of Betty White: an elderly woman who was popular with much younger people because of her wicked sense of humor and frank way of speaking when interviewed
Yes! And Ruth Gordon played in the tv series “Columbo” as one of the few murderers who was someone you could sympathize with, and that Columbo respected as a person.
Totally agree about the MAD parodies.
There's actually more than a few classic films my only knowledge of is the MAD parody. But I can speak somewhat knowledgeably about them just from that!
Thank you for noticing the tattoo.
Great reaction. Love this movie. I had forgotten that the motorcycle cop was played by Tom Skerritt, who does exasperation better than anyone.
She ended it, and he learned to let go of death, and how suicide effects those who actually love you. It's, the most bitter sweet ending idk i absolutely love this film.
The Mother’s accent is sometimes known as a mid-Atlantic accent and is a blend of American and English pronunciation that used to be taught at upper class learning institutions and acting schools. The actress Vivian Pickles came upon it more naturally having been born in England and coming from a theatrical family. Her sister Christina Pickles played, among many other things, as the mother of Ross and Monica in Friends.
Her final act was a pre-decision. At the end, she did it for Harold so he can “Love some more.”
Bud Cort did "Brewester McCloud: in 1970. It has a similar odd feel to it.
I saw "Brewster McCloud" freshly-released in theaters. Sally Kellerman was perfect in her role.
When I was a teenager my girlfriend and I became obsessed with this movie. We even introduced her younger sister to it and it changed all of our lives. It kind of seems silly to me now...but I know it changed me.
Harold has 60 years left: Maude teaches him a great lesson. He can move on
This is such a beautiful film about the beauty of life, and learning to love it. Thank you for watching it. It is one of my favorites.
The sybolism of him running his car off the cliff is him giving up his infatuation with death because Maude taught him how to live.
Love this movie..thanks
Harold and Maude" was released 12-20-1971.
"UCLA student Colin Higgins wrote Harold and Maude as his master's thesis. While working as producer Edward Lewis's pool boy, Higgins showed the script to Lewis's wife, Mildred. Mildred was so impressed that she got Edward to give it to Stanley Jaffe at Paramount. Higgins sold the script with the understanding that he would direct the film but he was told he wasn't ready, after tests he shot proved unsatisfactory to the studio heads. Ashby would only commit to directing the film after getting Higgins' blessing and then, so Higgins could watch and learn from him on the set, Ashby made Higgins a co-producer. Higgins says he originally thought of the story as a play. It then became a 20-minute thesis while at film school. After the film came out, the script was turned into a novel and then a play, which ran for several years in Paris.
Ashby felt that Maude should ideally be European and his list of possible actresses included dames Peggy Ashcroft, Edith Evans, Gladys Cooper and Celia Johnson as well as Lotte Lenya, Luise Rainer, Pola Negri, Minta Durfee, and Agatha Christie. Ruth Gordon indicated that in addition she heard that Edwige Feuillère, Elisabeth Bergner, Mildred Natwick, Mildred Dunnock, and Dorothy Stickney had been considered.
For Harold, in addition to Bud Cort, Ashby considered all promising unknowns, Richard Dreyfuss, Bob Balaban, and John Savage. Also on his list were John Rubinstein, for whom Higgins had written the part, and then-up-and-coming British pop star Elton John, whom Ashby had seen live and hoped would also do the music. Ultimately, the music was composed and performed by Cat Stevens. He had been suggested by Elton to do the music after he had dropped out of the project."
47:30 you, like Harold ignored the most important line of dialogue... in the church, Maude says: *"I'll be 80 next week. Good time to move on, don't you think?"* in the church and he replies *"I don't know."* she replies *"Well 75 is too early... but at 85 you're just marking time."* the film is a study in *"Careful what you wish for."* irony. Maude makes death REAL for Harold.
I saw the *"I want you to be my mommy"* (Harold wanted to be re-born from Maude by climbing into her womb proxy) sculpture scene referenced in Kajillionare, and it's There's Something About Mary's favorite movie. It's also referenced in ghostbuster's ECTO-1
Also... she doesn't STEAL cars, she just borrows them... as a gentle reminder... *Don't get too attached to things* (or people?)
More premium 'Ruth': "Where's Papa?" 1970 - (American Black Comedy) 👌
You two are great!!! When I was in college my best friend was 65...she was a blast!! This was in rerelease and we went to the Drive in in Victorville California...
Thanks for posting this. Such an emotional story. Was nice to watch it with you both 🙂
Great choice!
35:40 This whole scene was the plan they came up with together, to keep Harold from being forced into the army (Right hand man 😂).
They filmed part of this movie in my old home town of Santa Cruz, California at the Boardwalk and on the pier in S.C.
Holy Sh*t!! My favorite cult film! I saw it just after it came out. I never see anyone react to it. Phenominal movie. Great soundtrack too ❤
The Jaguar/hearse is one of the coolest cars in movie history. Unfortunately it was really destroyed at the end. There is a man who re-created in a few years ago and it was an expensive and difficult job.
Hal Ashby also directed Peter Sellers in another odd/cool movie, Being There (1979) with Best Supporting Actor nod to Melvyn Douglas. He was nominated for Best Director for Coming Home (1978) about Vietnam vets with Oscar wins for Jon Voight, Jane Fonda and Screenplay. He also directed Jack Nicholson (Oscar nominated performance) in The Last Detail (1973). Ashby got his only Oscar for Film Editing for In the Heat of the Night (1967).
It's a beautiful bit of art.
The greatest aspect of this movie is the subtleties. Unfortunately, you missed most of them because of talking through it.
WRT Maud's suicide, revisit the scene in the church when they first meet. I *think* this is where Maud has an awakening, of sorts. (very subtle foreshadowing here)
Then revisit the scene when they're drinking tea at her place.... (more *overt* foreshadowing)
[edit - Harold got the last laugh (on *US*) in the final scene!]
I love Ruth Gordon. She won the Oscar for Rosemary's Baby. Bud Cort had a serious car accident and lived with Groucho Marx until his passing. He went on to have small roles in Life Aquatic & But I'm a Cheerleader. Hal Ashby's film Being There is similar to Harold & Maude and was Peter Sellers last great role. 🌻
Bud Cort also appeared in "Dogma".
His role was initially identified as 'John Doe Jersey', a seemingly middle-aged man who is attacked on camera outside a deserted Jersey shore boardwalk amusement center (waiting for Skee-Ball to open up) then beaten into a coma and kept on life support; towards the end of "Dogma", Cort's character is revealed to be God (before the role is transferred to Alanis Morissette).
Yes, you could watch demolitions. I remember the same year this movie came out, riding with my sister in the open bed of our dad's pickup,on the freeway! I was six. She was four!
The yellow umbrella represents life🎉
this is an UPLIFTING movie. with a happy ending. did you really think a romance between an 80 year old and a 20 year old would work? through her death maude taught harold how to live! maude had this planned before she ever met harold. she saw this young man who frequented funerals and thought she could FREE him from his torment and help him rediscover life, before she died. and you guys missed most of the humor. but we agree, that car is a dream.
they never wanted to release a soundtrack to this film. both stevens and hal ashby, the director, wanted the score to maintain a special link specifically with the film. i think it was well after 2000 that an "official" soundtrack was finally released. thanks for the video.
Love that you reacted to this. Definitely one of my favorite films of all time. :)
8:00 ish- you mention Six Feet Under - that would be a perfect show for you guys to watch. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do that!!!!!!!
They both helped each other.
One of the greatest lessons in this movie.. is.. it’s your life.. you choose.. no one else. You can live this life anyway you want. Just be good to people n animals. The rest is our choice. Don’t let society make you feel like you can’t do it. Just do it. Damn the torpedoes. Lol.
A brave choice, gentlemen. I enjoyed your reaction very much. And yes, this is one of the greatest films of all time. And Ruth Gordon gets even better in "Every Which Way But Loose" (complete with orangutan!) and after the kids go to bed, check her out in "Rosemary's Baby". Long live Ruth Gordon!
My favorite! Not "the greatest film ever", but the biggest impression on me for over 40 years!
The director is Hal Ashby who directed other great films. Be sure to check out "Being There".
1971! The year of my high school graduation. The Vietnam war was still raging. I remember having to sign up for the draft in high school after my 18th birthday. In the HIGH SCHOOL!!! My husband Ron, who is 2 years younger than me, says he wasn't required to do that in 1973 in high school. Can anyone else verify if my memory is correct about this as a requirement.
On Sept. 28, 1971, Nixon signed the enabling legislation to end conscription and put the reformed Selective Service System on “standby.” However, it would not be until Jan. 27, 1973, that Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced that “use of the draft has ended.”
@@chris...9497 Thank you, Chris.
she said in the beginning that 85 was too old and 80 was just right. Also said her birthday was in a week,
The Draft ended in 1975. Theoretically Harold could have been "inducted" into the Army 1971.
I love this movie. I want to be maude. I love cat Steven's. This is a classic ❤❤❤❤❤
We should all want to be maude!
The collar was a leather cowl.
me 17 in 71.this movie is all-out aspirations of different generations.ps.research ruth gordon please. Maud of the 20's revolutions generation,harold of the 60" revolution generation., they share a common senceability. cat Stevens is internal to the story.. his lyrics and emotions. where do the children play?. peace train.,father and son. the gensrations between Harold and Maud are his
mother and the military man.pleasure typing to you.good show.WISH YOU O WATCH.."short time of adjustment" Jane Fonda. thanks
Early in the movie Maude makes it clear that 80 is a good time to go. 75 is too young. But by 85 you’re only marking time.
The scene with the psychiatrist; notice Harold dresses like the psychiatrist on purpose.
One of my favorite films of all time ❤❤
If you're doing 70s movies then I recommend Five Easy Pieces with Jack Nicholson.
41:05 That machine: he's making the token he'll give her later.
Another unusual "cult classic" to check out would be Wings of Desire.
These dudes are dense
Thank you for this!
This was a Friday and Saturday Midnight Movies staple, cult classic for the smaller theatres when I saw it in the 80s ..Rocky Horror had it own theatre...this and Flesh Gordon and Barbaella Clockwork Orange and...a life skewing film
39:56 He does it to scare them away. It didn't work with this one. 😂 Btw, this actress is the daughter of "grandpa Walton".
At funeral n the beginning Maude talks about 80.it's very important.
Sorry, too much talking and looking at each other. You missed some key moments.
I disagree about modern audiences not liking slow movies. The movie "Audition" by Miike has a very slow beginning and build up until the payoff at the end. But it works.
That movie is a quarter century old.
Don't talk, watch! It's a great movie but you just weren't engaged enough to react.
Nice
She was losing it. The pictures in her house were fading. She wanted to go out on her own terms.
The photo frames were empty, because her family is gone. The canvases are alive with color because she painted them herself.
I disagree. This movie holds up over time. This movie actually aged well and could be made now. However, it already exists. So I don't want it to be remade. It's a classic. Remake bad movies.
Curious what themes he's talking about?
My first laugh was when he said "I have a sore throat"😅. one of my favorite movies and romantic comedies.
42:59 When a younger man is attracted to an older woman, that doesn't mean we want to sleep with our mother...it means we want to sleep with everyone else's. 😈
He could have been drafted at that time
BINGO - You guys caught the very short reveal of Maude's tattoo! Congratulations - most people struggle thru this movie and miss that singular defining detail - she was a Holocaust survivor. Harold noticed it, and he understands where Maude was coming from. He tried one more morbid shock on Mom, but the joy of that is gone. Maude cured him.
She's not unhinged. She's eccentric, and alive.The yellow umbrella represents life🎉
EXACTLY... and is referenced later with her BIG UMBRELLA used for self defense... she's symbolically "fighting off death in her small little way"
Most people miss the single defining moment of this film; when they are watching the sunset the camera zooms in on Maude's tattoo on her forearm - Harold notices it, and he is forever changed - no longer fascinated with Death, or shocking people. He understands Maude's past, and the reason for her zest for life. It's a directorial masterpiece, and the camera is on her tattoo for less than 2 seconds. She was a Holocaust survivor.
My favorite movie of all time. Every time I see it I notice/figure out something new. And I've seen it HUNDREDS of times. Literally.
My favorite movie of all time. Every time I see it I notice/figure out something new. And I've seen it HUNDREDS of times. Literally.