Harold, an eccentric, attention-seeking teenager, lives a life of luxury with his single mother. Overbearing may be an understatment in describing Harold's mother, a snobbish egocentric woman who dictates every aspect of Harry's life, even going on the computer to set up dates for her son. Harry spends most of his leisure time peering at death, primarily funerals, with the occasional junkyard and building demolitions mixed in for good measure. While at home with his mother he routinely simulates his own suicide, doing it so much that his mom barely acknowledges the action. Elaborate in design, they drive his mother to send Harold to a psychologist. While at a funeral, Harold meets Maude, a seventy-nine year old woman who lives in the moment, who could easily be described as an anarchic woman. Maude's livestyle of living in the moment instills a sense of individualality in Harold, kickstarting his passion for life and the beauty within it. It's not entirely surprising to know that Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude received mixed reviews on its initial release, as Hal Ashby has created a film that defies genre classification while being a love story between a teenage boy and elderly woman. Harold and Maude is a poetic film about finding the beauty in life, with Maude being the film's shining light, who finds wonder in nearly eveyrthing. Harold is a character who through Maude finds himself, proud of his own interests not societies, with the film certainly having counter-culter elements. Ashby's direction in this film is subtlely brilliant, using compositions and framing to help evoke Harold's mood while supplementing the major themes of the film. The editing is also impressive, with seemless transitions which help create the film's unique, balanced tone. Funny, tender, and poignant, Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude is really a film about true love, showing how this relationship revitalizes Harold's commitment to life.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
|