Harold And Maude

– The young Harold lives in his own world of suicide-attempts and funeral visits to avoid the misery o..

Type:
Movie
Rating:
8.00 / 10
Duration:
One Hour and 31 Minutes
Release Year:
1971
Harold and Maude (1971)

The young Harold lives in his own world of suicide-attempts and funeral visits to avoid the misery of his current family and home environment. Harold meets an 80-year-old woman named Maude who also lives in her own world yet one in which she is having the time of her life. When the two opposites meet they realize that their differences don’t matter and they become best friends and love each other.

Story Timeline:
Producing Country:
USA
Filming Locations:
Genre:
Editor's Pick for:

Harold and Maude (1971) - Trailer

Release Date:

20 Dec 1971

Language:

English

MPAA Content-Rating:
PG – Parental Guidance Suggested

Some material may not be suitable for children. Parents urged to give "parental guidance". May contain some material parents might not like for their young children.

Director:

Hal Ashby

Writer:

Colin Higgins

Main Actors:

Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack

Plot:

Young adult Harold Chasen, solitary and friendless by choice, is obsessed with death, this fascination manifesting itself in he staging his own fake suicides, driving a hearse, and attending funerals, even of people he doesn't know, all to the chagrin of his exasperated wealthy mother with who he lives. Mrs. Chasen is determined for Harold to be "normal", including she sending him into therapy to deal with his issues and finding him a girlfriend through a computer dating service. It is at a series of funerals that Harold meets Maude, on the cusp of her eightieth birthday, she who too attends funerals of strangers. Unlike Harold, Maude is obsessed with life - her own life to be more precise - she doing whatever she wants to please herself, damned what others may think or how they may be affected. Since she can't take material possessions with her, she is more interested in experiences, with whatever material possessions she has - often "borrowed" without asking - only to further those experiences. Their friendship is initially based on how the other can further their own priority. But as Maude shows Harold how to truly live, Harold falls in love with her. Their relationship, already limited in time by the sheer math, is curtailed even more as Maude shows him only not how to live well, but die well.

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Production:

Paramount Pictures

Ratings:
Internet Movie Database:
8.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes:
84%
Metacritic:
62%