Harold and Maude, sitting in a tree.

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?

res=990CE7DF1138EF34BC4951DFB467838A669EDE

Cory Ray

 

For an Article written in 1971, the one written in the NYTimes is surprisingly timeless in its critique of the movie “Harold and Maude”. Its acknowledgement of the taboo of the relationship is still a socially acceptable response to a relationship between a 19 year old and a 79 year old, even in 2008. Even the apathy behind the attempted suicides wasn’t as serious as I thought it might have been in 1971; even now, a lot of people don’t find the fake suicides all that funny, especially when they’re merely to shock his mother. A lot of people might take offense to that, apparently the writer didn’t take offense, but acknowledged the same chance as I did. The writer attends that the movie ‘pretends’ to be in favor of life, and is actually much more about life, however, I feel that due to the nature of the context of the death, I assume that the movie is actually about what role death takes in life, and how life is seen by some as a restriction, and some as an opportunity, and how death by some can be seen as an escape, and by some as a loss. I guess in effect, the movie is equally about life and death, and whether or not it is in a positive or negative effect, is irrelevant yet.

I haven’t found a lot of articles on the movie, I only found short synopses, and short blurbs of opinion, but nothing really in depth. The only arguing points I could find were about whether or not the movie was about life or death, or whether or not it was moral to have the type of relationship between Harold and Maude had, but as a video “poem”, as it seemed to be, its messages were very effective in telling a story about life, death and love.