HAROLD AND MAUDE

NOTE: This spoiler was sent in by Katzinoire.

Harold is around twenty, twenty-one years old, his mother treats him as if he were a child, always trying to run his life, hoping to marry him off to a stepford wife and be done with him. For revenge, Harold stages elaborate fake Suicides to grate her nerves. She tries everything crazy to reach him, from dating services, to having her masochistic brother (a former Marine I believe) try to ship him off far, far away. His hobbies include faking suicides, reconverting any car to a hearse (including a jaguar) and cruising the obituaries to go to every funeral he can get to.

And then there’s Maude... (sorry, couldn't help it). Almost eighty years old, she has survived the holocaust, a husband, and a child. Her hobbies include stealing cars, and “improving” them, re-habituating nature (i.e.: kidnapping a Tree implanted in the city to a forest) and cruising the obituaries to go to every funereal she can get to.

They meet at a funereal. At first Harold is confused by this odd woman, portrayed wonderfully by Ruth Gordon who is so sweet and forward as Maude as she was obnoxious as Mini Castevet in “Rosemary's Baby”. She breathes the air and feels life, in everything, standing proud at the funerals with her lemon yellow umbrella to everyone else's black one-Maude is the embodiment of life. She sees Harold and is terribly upset that he is unhappy. So, she decides that she will decide to make him understand that “life” isn't just the breath you breathe, but what you do with yourself while you can. The irony is that what Harold (and we) do not know is that Maude decides she is going to kill herself on her 80th birthday, figuring she lived a good life and this way, she has made the decision.

Keep in mind, we all have no clue about her planning suicide-so we enjoy watching her teach Harold about life and living it, giving him a banjo, taking him on a car thieving, tree-kidnapping and replanting afternoon, and helping avoid signing up for the army in a rather imaginative way (if you want some surprise, skip a paragraph)

This is how they get Harold out of signing up for the army. Harold agrees to meet with his Uncle to discuss signing up, and Maude is at the place they meet, acting as a peacenik. Harold gets all creepy about being in the army, unnerving his Uncle with joyous chatter about cracking bones, shooting people etc. Maude approaches them with her sign stating peace, and Harold and her have planned this situation where she falls into a hole while he “berates” her for her peace loving ways, leading his Uncle to believe he killed this poor strange woman-so they get out of there FAST, his Uncle therefore decides that Harold is far too unstable for the army-Harold and Maude laugh about this all later on

After scaring away all three of his “dating service” dates by faking burning himself, pretending to chop off a hand and Hara-Kiri (which the date misreads as a reenactment of Romeo and Juliet) Harold spends all his time with Maude, falling in love with her and life at the same time. Who has time for faking deaths amongst all this fun? They go to an amusement park, and end up making love (they don't actually show this scene, they present it as Maude sleeping peacefully next to Harold who is so relaxed, looking pleased for the first time the whole movie, for some reason, blowing bubbles)

He announces to his mother the decision to marry Maude, who freaks out when she sees the picture of an 80 year old woman, leading to a very funny series of people on another side of a desk, giving various reasons for why he will do this (my personal favorite is the shrink looking confused explaining that with an Oedipus Complex he could understand him wanting to marry someone like his Mother, but his GRANDmother?)

Maude’s big day comes, and Harold gives her a cake, presents, and as she comments “one of the best birthdays she has ever had”, he goes to give her a ring and she declines, in a happy, matter of fact manner explaining that she took pills an hour earlier, and 80 is a great time and age to die. Harold's response “WHAT!!!????”

The end of the movie are scene cuts of Harold and Maude in the ambulance, him begging her not to leave him, because he loves her, she smiles gently, congratulates him and tells him “Harold, you FINALLY learned to love…now, go love some more”, intercut with him in his hearsed-up Jag about to run off a cliff. The car goes over the edge, but Harold has jumped out with his Banjo deciding that he WILL LIVE, and happily plays a tune he and Maude enjoyed on his Banjo as he climbs the hill.

Personal Notes: The soundtrack has NEVER been available, however, you can download most of the songs from various websites and burn your own, trickiest one to find is “See the Light” (the song played after they make love) Cat Steven’s decision to never create an actual album was decided that Harold and Maude was such a special film, no soundtrack could define it (or something like that before he made a few trips to Mecca and changed his religion) Still a cool guy, his website is catstevens.com-enjoy.

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