Harold et Maude

Subtitles start, unforgettable music plays, and I feel like living, like singing, and like doing everything that comes to my mind, everything that I have never done in my life, including transplanting trees or playing banjo, because all of it now seems irresistible, sweet, and significant to me. Additionally, Ashby brilliantly divides emotions into two completely different but equally powerful lines. In the house where irresistible suicide attempts and ideological conflicts with the mother take place, the viewer does not know when to stop laughing, while when Harold is with Maude, besides laughter, I also experienced melancholic and very strong romance, which is even more urgent in its believability. And at the moment when the subtitles continue and I can barely see through tears, which are a result of all possible emotions, Harold, 35 years older - Bud Cort - comes onto the stage, and I know that I will never forget this moment. (04/07/2007)

From the beginning, it is clear that this film will go its own way, with its own poetics. The audience will either accept it or not. I think it is not so difficult to accept it. Yes, both main actors are very peculiar people, but that is precisely why they fit together perfectly and why they are so perfectly bizarre. Both want to live, but it seems like they can only live in the shadow of death, at least until they meet each other. It doesn't matter how old they are, it doesn't matter what their prejudices are, it always depends on whether two people understand each other. And these two understood each other perfectly. The beautiful poetics of the film are complemented by excellent performances, which are truly unique. And the ending... It is simply beautiful. In a certain sense of the word, of course. (17/01/2014)

I originally gave the film only 4 stars, but when I thought about how to justify the absence of the last star, I was at a loss. Harold and Maude is a beautiful film and it’s no coincidence that it shows up in several polls for the best films of all time. Its big advantage is that Hal Ashby not only knew exactly what he wanted to do, but also when he wanted to do it. By all accounts, the early 1970s found America in a state of emotional and attitudinal fragmentation, and with the country shaken by the Vietnam War as well as the slowly fading hippie movement, the effect of this darkly humorous story full of contrasts was, like The Graduate a few years earlier, enormous. And the crystal-clear quality of Ashby's work is perfectly evidenced by the fact that if we watch it now, almost 40 years later, we can not only soak up the specific atmosphere of that time alongside the taciturn Harold and the energetic Maude, but also have a royal good time. 90% (22/07/2013)

“A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They're just backing away from life.” That’s true. Age is not important, there are many octogenarians with more zest for life than not few twenty-year-olds. Harold was likeable in every way, Maude blew me away with her optimism for life. If your are to grow old and die, at least do it with grace. A pleasant, funny and touching experience. (03/07/2008)