Blu-ray Review Harold and Maude Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Greg_D_R /t/321117/harold-and-maude-blu-ray-review#post_3938943
There's a pretty big difference between name calling and disagreement, Colin, you unsubtle stinker.
The other interesting thing is that you immediately felt singled out by my comment, which wasn't the case at all.

I didn't call any of the thread participant - or the reviewer - names. I said I disagreed and referred to the movie as an "unsubtle stinker".

Of course I felt "singled out" since I was the second person to state a negative opinion about the film - and your comment came pretty close on the heels of mine.

And even if I wasn't "singled out", you said that anyone who doesn't "get" the movie can't be helped and is an object of pity. Gee, I wonder why I'd feel offended by that sentiment!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Walter Kittel /t/321117/harold-and-maude-blu-ray-review#post_3938968
Well, Colin doesn't need me to speak for him, but for his views on the film you might consider his DVD review:
http://www.dvdmg.com/haroldandmaude.shtml
I find that I often disagree with Colin's reviews of films to the point that if he hates it then I am sure to love it; but that is just fine since it is all just subjective opinion. (Sometimes our opinions overlap though.)
I like Harold and Maude, but re-reading the review and some of the plot-points I can see why the film is polarizing. Personally speaking, the attraction of the film for me is the relationship between Harold (Bud Cort) and Maude (Ruth Gordon). Hal Ashby was one of THE great directors of '70s cinema and his ability to get fine performances from his actors was a key attraction for me to his body of work.

Agree, disagree - I'm just happy when people read my stuff!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by WinstonCely /t/321117/harold-and-maude-blu-ray-review#post_3938946
It's cool to not like the movie, no worries on that. Just wondering though, what exactly about this movie is smug and condescending? For me, the movie is the exact opposite of that. I feel that it's rebelling against that whole attitude, but curious that I might be missing something.

I find the movie to display an attitude that you should be yourself - as long as you fit the box of what we deem to be the way to live.

For instance, there's the scene where Maude forces Harold to sing a song. She shoves him into her idea of how a person should live his life. It doesn't matter if someone WANTS to do something - it's that "you have to live the way I think you should live or you're not really living your life" attitude.

And there's the way that selfish, reckless Maude is treated as some role model. She's a horrible person who does what she wants without regard to others - this is a good thing?

And there's also the way the movie treats anyone in authority as badly flawed. The traffic cop is seen as an oppressive moron because he pulls over a woman who steals cars and drives like a maniac.

And there's much more. I regard it as an insufferable manifesto that represents everything bad about the "hippie movement" and nothing good...

 

[WinstonCely]

I find the movie to display an attitude that you should be yourself - as long as you fit the box of what we deem to be the way to live.
For instance, there's the scene where Maude forces Harold to sing a song.  She shoves him into her idea of how a person should live his life.  It doesn't matter if someone WANTS to do something - it's that "you have to live the way I think you should live or you're not really living your life" attitude.
And there's the way that selfish, reckless Maude is treated as some role model.  She's a horrible person who does what she wants without regard to others - this is a good thing?
And there's also the way the movie treats anyone in authority as badly flawed.  The traffic cop is seen as an oppressive moron because he pulls over a woman who steals cars and drives like a maniac.
And there's much more.  I regard it as an insufferable manifesto that represents everything bad about the "hippie movement" and nothing good...

I gotcha. I see where you're coming from.
For me, there are two pivotal scenes that I think makes the movie about finding your own way in spite of how others want you to behave; the hookah scene where Harold explains why he,

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

"enjoys being dead,"

and when Maud talks of her past. It's important to remember the context of Maud's character; a woman who was a concentration camp survivor from WWII. This at the very least, gives a logical psychoanalytical explanation for why she behaves the way she does (I think that speaks for itself) even if the way she behaves isn't condonable.
To your point about the traffic cop, I kinda equate it to graffiti artists; I love the art itself, but I also abhor the act of vandalism. Just because I believe those guys have no right to create art on someone else's property without the owners permission, doesn't mean I can't appreciate the art. For Maud, I don't agree with her stealing cars, but I do agree with her reasoning (even though her reasoning doesn't make it right).
As for the scene where she makes Harold play the banjo, maybe it's just me, but I think you may be reading too much into it. From everything thing we've seen up to that point, Harold is an extremely shy, and repressed personality. Maud is the opposite, and recognizes that right off. I think, and I think Maud thinks this too, that Harold probably does want to play an instrument, but is too shy or full of self doubt, and needs to be pushed in order to do it. Just a thought, but I do see how she comes off as really pushy.
Of course, now that I think of it, the final scene,

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Harold walking away from the cliff

again demonstrates that he's made a choice on his own about who he wants to be. The entire final sequence is about him making his own mind up on who he is, and I don't think it literally means that he's become the same kinda person Maud is. I think it's left open enough to allow for some room. I think the only thing we can take as a given is that he's finally come out of his shell enough to

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

not commit suicide or fake suicide all the time

.
Again, I totally see where you're coming from. This is just the way I see the scenes unfolding.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The movie is very dated, but in kind of a good way -- it's very much a product of its time. Definitely not for everyone! I like it very much.

 

[MattGuyOR]

I just don't understand the point of posting so much about a movie you hate. Life's too short to waste your time. Personally, this is probably my second favorite movie of all time after "Once". It's a wonderful film.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

.
Again, I totally see where you're coming from. This is just the way I see the scenes unfolding.

I appreciate your thoughts - they're interesting and insightful!

 

[Stephen_J_H]

It's interesting to look at different viewpoints on film. Personally, I rather enjoy Harold & Maude for its blackly comic elements and preferable to Colin's preferred "coming of age" film, The Graduate, which I consider to be a load of pretentious twaddle whose only saving grace is its Simon and Garfunkel songs. I also hate Midnight Cowboy and find many Dustin Hoffman performances insufferable. Different points of view stimulate discussion.

 

[bigshot]

To me, this is the most UNfunny comedy I can think of. Any attempt at lightness and sillyness is stomped flat by pretention and downer subjects. That is a real trick with a loopy actress like Ruth Gordon. I love her in Rosemary's Baby. She's endearing in that movie. In this one, she's a bulldozer.
Look at her relationship with Bud Cort in this movie and compare it to Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in The Producers. I know it isn't entirely the same thing, but one level of it is similar. Ruth Gordon seems to be oblivious to Cort, riding roughshod over him, demanding that everyone around her live life on her terms. While on the surface, that seems to be what Mostel is doing to Wilder, there's an underlying empathy between them that makes Mostel much more sympathetic as a character. Wilder and Mostel go beyond being mentor and pupil to being peers and real friends.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by MattGuyOR /t/321117/harold-and-maude-blu-ray-review#post_3939077
I just don't understand the point of posting so much about a movie you hate. Life's too short to waste your time.

People should only discuss movies they love?
I think it's as interesting - if not more so - to chat about movies I dislike. I'm more interested in alternate viewpoints when I dislike something, as I'm curious to hear why those who like it feel that way. To some degree, I'm curious to hear from detractors when I'm fond of a movie, but I dunno - it's more compelling to me to hear the "pro" viewpoint when I dislike a film.

It's all interesting, in any case. If the board was just "I love it!!!" all the time, it'd get pretty boring...

 

[ahollis]

Mercy, now I am going to have to go back and watch this again. I guess it has been to long since I viewed it to remark on the pros's and con's of the film, but I do remember being enchanted with it.

 

[JoHud]

I hardly remember anything about it myself, though I think I only watched 5-10 minutes of it at least 8 or so years ago on television and didn't quite care for it. I'm still getting the blu-ray though. I often find myself looking at movies in a new light after almost forgetting they existed some years later.

 

[davidmatychuk]

It's too bad the trailer, which is on the Paramount DVD, wasn't included on Criterion's release.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by davidmatychuk /t/321117/harold-and-maude-blu-ray-review/30#post_3939233
It's too bad the trailer, which is on the Paramount DVD, wasn't included on Criterion's release.

Yeah, that's a weird omission. I have to imagine it's a rights question of some sorts...

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Yeah, that's a weird omission.  I have to imagine it's a rights question of some sorts...

I don't have any verification, but I suspect that in the early days of DVD, when all the studios were putting trailers on their releases, no one thought that things like music had to be recleared since that was thought to be covered under the original creation . And then of course some music industry weasel came in and split hairs over "advertising" vs. "added value" and then Paramount stopped including trailers if they had anything other than the original film score.
AFAIK there were three trailers for HAM. There's the two included on the previous Paramount DVD, which both feature heavy use of "If You Want to Sing Out," which I am sorry are not ported over, but I understand why. Then there is a 1978 reissue trailer when the studio wanted to cash in on writer Colin Higgins' popularity from his hit movies FOUL PLAY and SILVER STREAK - this was the "His Hang-Ups Are Hilarious!" campaign which was used on the earliest videocassette pacakges of the movie. Most fans have been vocal about how much they did not like this campaign, and probably Criterion felt no one would want to see that spot on their DVD either.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Mark Edward Heuck /t/321117/harold-and-maude-blu-ray-review/30#post_3939514
I don't have any verification, but I suspect that in the early days of DVD, when all the studios were putting trailers on their releases, no one thought that things like music had to be recleared since that was thought to be covered under the original creation . And then of course some music industry weasel came in and split hairs over "advertising" vs. "added value" and then Paramount stopped including trailers if they had anything other than the original film score.
AFAIK there were three trailers for HAM. There's the two included on the previous Paramount DVD, which both feature heavy use of "If You Want to Sing Out," which I am sorry are not ported over, but I understand why. Then there is a 1978 reissue trailer when the studio wanted to cash in on writer Colin Higgins' popularity from his hit movies FOUL PLAY and SILVER STREAK - this was the "His Hang-Ups Are Hilarious!" campaign which was used on the earliest videocassette pacakges of the movie. Most fans have been vocal about how much they did not like this campaign, and probably Criterion felt no one would want to see that spot on their DVD either.

They do show the poster from the reissue, though. I'd love to see the reissue trailer - the trailer completely misrepresents the film so a similar trailer would be very amusing!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Mark Edward Heuck /t/321117/harold-and-maude-blu-ray-review/30#post_3939514
I don't have any verification, but I suspect that in the early days of DVD, when all the studios were putting trailers on their releases, no one thought that things like music had to be recleared since that was thought to be covered under the original creation . And then of course some music industry weasel came in and split hairs over "advertising" vs. "added value" and then Paramount stopped including trailers if they had anything other than the original film score.
AFAIK there were three trailers for HAM. There's the two included on the previous Paramount DVD, which both feature heavy use of "If You Want to Sing Out," which I am sorry are not ported over, but I understand why. Then there is a 1978 reissue trailer when the studio wanted to cash in on writer Colin Higgins' popularity from his hit movies FOUL PLAY and SILVER STREAK - this was the "His Hang-Ups Are Hilarious!" campaign which was used on the earliest videocassette pacakges of the movie. Most fans have been vocal about how much they did not like this campaign, and probably Criterion felt no one would want to see that spot on their DVD either.

They do show the poster from the reissue, though. I'd love to see the reissue trailer - the trailer completely misrepresents the film so a similar trailer would be very amusing!

 

[David Wilkins]

I don't think it's important for the people we're exposed to, to always be "role models". I've had the great fortune of spending time around several people who were completely outside the box. Calling them eccentric would be a great understatement. Those people are bright points, all these decades later. The world is an unpredictable F'd-up place, and some of those kinds of people can provide you with alternate perspectives and humor that you'll never get from textbook examples of adjustment. To have their influence of spirit doesn't mean that they do your thinking for you the rest of the way down the road. And ruling out those real world possibilities, this IS just a movie.
Just my two cents about the general conversation regarding the story, its characters and merits.

 

[TonyD]

It never makes sense to me when someone says they don't see why one would make so many comments about a movie they don't like, this is a discussion web site, so we discuss why we like or don't like a movie.
Also the idea that someone must say that If you don't like a movie then you obviously don't get it doesn't make one bit of logical sense.
What's to get? I watched a movie and I didn't like it.
The characters, the story, the actors, whatever it may be I don't like the movie, why do I have to get it? And what does that even mean?
I agree with Colin on this one.
I saw it about 6 years ago when I was about 40 and the movie was a bore to me.
I don't like any of these people in the movie.
How is this one a comedy, I know what a dark or black comedy is but what was the funny in Harold and Maude?
It was all dark and nothing else.

 

[WinstonCely]

For me, I love how simple the film is. It's not trying to hide anything. The film is about Vietnam, about conformity, about rebellion, the Holocaust, our ideas of what's acceptably normal and not, among other things and it's very open about it. Keeps it from being too pretentious.
I love taking the beauty of a Jaguar E-Type and transforming it into a hearse. The reactions of Harold's mother to his antics are priceless. Harold's one-armed uncle and his ridiculous fanatical ravings about "The two best wars this country ever fought were against the Gerrys. I say get the Krauts on the other side of the fence where they belong," is the perfect mirror to the authority figures of that time (and not that far off from current political ravings by extremists of today).
One of the best scenes has the psychiatrist ask Harold about his faked suicide attempts: "Were they all done for your mother's benefit?"
Harold: "No. No, I would not say "benefit."" That gets me every time!
The editing is pitch perfect, adding the punch lines to many scenes.
I don't know. I see why some people just don't like it (it's parts are extremes, quirky in ways that most certainly can be annoying if their whole doesn't appeal to ones sensibilities), but I also think it wasn't a film made for wide appeal. It appeals to those of us who love "The Gashlycrumb Tinies," and actually use it to teach our children the alphabet.
Anyway, I'm psyched that Criterion has released it, and I'm hoping I get to open it this Xmas!