Harold and Maude

US Release: 20th December 1971

Watched on DVD: Thursday 14th April 2011

Rating: 15

Runtime: 1hr 29mins

Tagline: They were meant to be. But exactly what they were meant to be is not quite clear.

IMDb Plot Summary: Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.

A Quick Review: I should probably start off by saying that I didn’t watch this film by my own free will. It was my friend’s choice but I’m glad she picked it as it was a film I probably wouldn’t have picked on my own and I may have been missing out because of that. 

This film was what I would describe as black comedy. The music by Cat Stevens gave it a jolly feel but as you can see from the summary Harold is obsessed with death - regularly visiting funerals for fun and staging his own suicides - so the film is quite morbid in parts. 

But the rest of the time this film is a celebration of life. Maude is incredibly refreshing, living life to the fullest and is able to pass on some of that life to Harold, inevitably changing him. In giving Harold a new appreciation for life so it gave me one - so I would deem that a success!

Full of twists and actually really quite funny; this film has been termed a ‘cult classic’ and is one to watch. 

Score: 7/10