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Title:	Harold and Maude (1971)
Studio Line:	Paramount - His Hangups Are Hilarious A classic cult film that features one of the screen's most unlikely pairs. It will defy everything you've ever seen or known about screen lovers. Bud Cort is Harold, a young man bored with wealth but interested in death. And Ruth Gordon is Maude, a wonderful old rascal who can see nothing but good intentions in the world. Hal Ashby (Coming Home, Being There) directed from Colin Higgin's (Foul Play) first script. An outrageously funny and affecting film that proves love has no boundaries. Cat Stevens provides an uplifting musical score.
Director:	Hal Ashby
Cast:	Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack, Charles Tyner, Ellen Geer, Eric Christmas, G. Wood, Judy Engles, Shari Summers, Tom Skerritt.
Academy Awards:	None
DVD:	Widescreen 1.85:1/16x9; audio English DD 5.1 & Digital Mono, French Digital Mono; subtitles English; closed-captioned; single side - dual layer; 26 chapters; rated PG; 91 min.; $29.99; release date 6/27/00.
Supplements:	2 Theatrical Trailers.
Purchase:	DVD | Novel - Colin Higgins

Picture/Sound/Extras: C/B/D- Harold and Maude works from a premise that will make many a scrotum crawl. We find the romantic couple of geeky young Harold (Bud Cort) and withered old crone Maude (Ruth Gordon). The concept of this dude getting it on with a wrinkled hag like Gordon gives me the willies. Granted, Cort was no Robert Redford, but geez! At least date a skank in your own demographic, dude! As it turns out, that nauseating May-December romance ended up as one of the less annoying aspects of this condescending and self-righteous film. HAM clearly was the product of its time, as everything about it signifies the worst aspects of the counterculture prevalent in the late Sixties and early Seventies. It's all about letting your freak flag fly, and don't let the Man tell you what to do. Right on, brothers! Or somesuch nonsense. I dislike propaganda of any sort, and I find this sort of "do what you wanna do, dude!" trash just as offensive as any kind of totalitarian screed. It's not the content itself that so bothers me - hey, I don't like war or silly rules either - but I can't stand to have viewpoints shoved upon me in an arrogant and smug manner, which is how the vast majority of HAM proceeds. Our "hero" Harold has been held down by the Man. Or rather, the Woman, in the person of his mother (Vivian "Hold the" Pickles). In their wealthy family, she constantly shoves her ideas of how Harold should live his life down his throat, and his only manner of rebellion stems from his faked suicide attempts. Mom has Harold talk to a psychiatrist, a priest and to his uncle, an Army officer, but none connect with the youngster and he continues along his miserable existence. As demonstrated through his phony suicides, Harold is obsessed with death; he also visits the funerals of strangers. At one of these he meets decrepit old Maude and the two quickly become friends. Despite her advanced age, Maude retains a joy for life, and she teaches Harold how to really thrive through her irrepressible viewpoint. Please excuse me while I vomit. The entire film is a thinly-disguised hippie manifesto in which all things organized and conventional are criticized while anarchy and selfishness are praised. Maude has the habit of stealing cars for herself, and we're clearly supposed to think this is cute and acceptable. She also drives like a maniac and does exactly what she wants to do whenever she wants to do it. Aspects of the Sixties counterculture were quite positive, but HAM bases its theme around the most self-indulgent and unproductive parts of the era. There's a fine line between indulgent fantasy and realistic pragmatism, and this movie wants us to believe the latter is absolutely unnecessary; hey, as long as you're happy, it doesn't matter how badly you've inconvenienced or harmed others. That's the attitude I took from this film. It's one thing to take a stand against ridiculous societal conventions - ala Dr. Strangelove or M*A*S*H - but it's quite another to go to this egocentric extreme. For example, take the scene in which Maude decides that a tree planted in the city needs to be in the country to thrive. She a) steals another car, b) steals the tree, and c) drives recklessly to replant the tree. Due to her multiple traffic violations, a cop pulls her over and finds that she possesses no driver's license, she freely admits she stole the car and she doesn't care. Throughout this interaction, the officer is presented as an oppressive moron who is to be ignored and disdained. I can't get over the idiocy of this viewpoint. The cop tries to enforce laws that exist for the protection of others - Maude is clearly a danger to society with her careless driving - and does so in a reasonable manner; this isn't some authority-obsessed fascist. Yet we're supposed to empathize with wacky old Maude and her anti-establishment ways. Ugh! I'm all for projects that mock the stupidity of many rules and regulations, but I always though laws against reckless and dangerous driving and against thievery were a good thing. Apparently not, if the theme of HAM is to be accepted. The film is neither clever nor witty in its attack on authority, and it seems just as pompous as the figures it so despises. All those in positions of power are treated as idiots or fascists or both. The acting is tolerable at best. Cort strongly resembles one of those God-awful paintings of the kids with the giant eyes, and he makes for an unpleasant screen presence. That's not just because he's a creepy-looking kid; it occurs also due to his generally irritating and self-righteous demeanor. I never liked Gordon, and her usual flaws are on display here. She's the wacky granny who's all spunk and spirit, and she's quite annoying. The only moment in which she displays any real talent is one where she actually shows some emotion about the past. Other than that, she's all wisecracks and craziness. Add to this appalling concoction some atrocious songs by lightweight singer/songwriter Cat Stevens - who became much more interesting when he turned to Islam and denounced everything Western - and you have a genuinely terrible film. Harold and Maude wants to be The Graduate: a poignant and honest look "coming of age" story about a young man who doesn't fit in with the ways society tries to buttonhole him. The Graduate makes its points in subtle and understated ways that reflect the reality of the situation without becoming excessive, and many of us could identify with Benjamin. Few will see much of themselves in a selfish jerk like Harold, however, and no one would want to feel that way. I didn't like Harold and Maude while I watched it, but my anger for the project only escalated as I thought about it afterward. This is nothing more than heavy-handed and smug piece of propaganda that offers nothing of value. The DVD: Harold and Maude appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this single-sided, single-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Overall, the picture looks acceptable, but it varies quite a lot; it ranges from quite nice to pretty bad and hits all points in between. Sharpness generally seems adequate, with most scenes appearing fairly clear and accurate. However, some definite softness infects quite a few segments, and there's little rhyme or reason to the variations, although the haziest shots tend to be indoors and wider than usual. Moiré effects and jagged edges aren't a concern, but there are a fair number of artifacts from the anamorphic downconversion on my 4X3 TV. For instance, the scene in which Maude toys with a motorcycle cop presents with serious examples of this "ropiness", as you'll note from the appearance of the lines painted onto the street. Print flaws probably present the weakest aspect of this DVD. Tiny white speckles abound throughout the movie; some scenes look worse than others, but they appear on a pretty consistent basis. The film seems mildly grainy as well, but other issues are less consistent. I noticed occasional examples of scratches, nicks and spots, but these didn't occur frequently. Colors tend to seem fairly bland throughout much of HAM, though they brighten up as the movie progresses. Much of the film utilizes a rather brownish color scheme, and the images reflect this flatness. However, as Harold's mood brightens, so do the hues; they never get terribly bold, but the colors for the last third of the movie seem much stronger. All in all, the hues come across as reasonably accurate but nothing special. Black levels also appear acceptable but unspectacular, with tones that look moderately deep but not very rich. Shadow detail generally seems appropriately opaque, though a number of scenes come across as overly thick. Ultimately, HAM offers a fairly mediocre viewing experience. Relatively better is the movie's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. I was surprised to find the audio remixed from the original audio, and I felt even more astonished that they did a pretty good job with it. The soundfield remains fairly conservative throughout the film. Most instances of sound that doesn't come from the center seems modest; examples are things like a bell pealing in the distance. The most active elements occur when Maude recklessly drives a car; we hear some good localization and panning at those times, and the surrounds even add a nice element of interaction. For the most part, the rears do nothing more than gently echo the forward soundstage, though these few deviations occur. Cat Stevens' songs also are in stereo with some light reinforcement from the surrounds. Audio quality varies but seems generally good for an older movie. Dialogue can be a bit thin and light, but it sounds intelligible and clear. Effects often lack depth but come across as acceptably realistic and lack distortion. The Stevens songs work best of all; the tunes may be junk, but they sound crisp and warm. Although the dialogue and effects fall well within the range of "average" for a film from 1971, the good quality of the music combined with the moderately effective soundfield is why this soundtrack rates a solid "B". Although Paramount have slowly started to issue DVD special editions, there's no evidence of that trend here. HAM includes no supplemental features other than two lame trailers. Yawn! I wish the DVD included more extras just because I'd like to hear the filmmakers' perspective on this turkey. How an overbearing clunker like Harold and Maude has remained moderately popular for nearly 30 years seems absolutely mysterious to me. I found little to enjoy in this obnoxious tale and actively disliked the vast majority of it. The DVD provides an inconsistent but generally acceptable picture plus surprisingly strong audio. It lacks any significant supplemental features, though. If you're a fan of this stinker, you'll probably like the DVD, as it does a decent job of presenting the movie, but anyone else should avoid it. Menu: DVD Movie Guide | Archive | Top