Harold und Maude (1971)

Harold und Maude: Directed by Hal Ashby. With Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack. Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.

“I first came to Harold and Maude from a suggestion from an eccentric friend who I thought I would humor by tracking down a 34-year-old movie. What I found, however, was one of the most amazing yet understated movies about the joys of life that I have ever seen. There are many subtle lines that take an extra amount of time and thought with a little self-reflection that can shake the very belief system of the viewer. For example,u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Zoos are full, prisons are overflowing… oh my, how the world still dearly loves a cage.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eand,u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Maude: I should like to change into a sunflower most of all. Theyu0026#39;re so tall and simple. What flower would you like to be? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHarold: I donu0026#39;t know. One of these, maybe. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMaude: Why do you say that? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHarold: Because theyu0026#39;re all alike. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMaude: Oooh, but theyu0026#39;re not. Look. See, some are smaller, some are fatter, some grow to the left, some to the right, some even have lost some petals; all kinds of observable differences. You see, Harold, I feel that much of the worldu0026#39;s sorrow comes from people who are this, (pointing to an individual daisy) yet allow themselves be treated as that (pointing to an entire field of seemingly identical daisies)u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHarold and Maude is about a young person who is full of life and obsessed with death, and an elderly person who is nearing death but is obsessed with life. What is revealed with this strange juxtaposition is that we can only learn to live life to its fullest by following the lessons of the dying. The message that I have taken from Harold and Maude is to live like you were dying!”