Three Reasons: Harold and Maude

Harold and Maude was the first black comedy that I ever saw, and I quickly became obsessed with the director Hal Ashby. I love every film he ever made, from Being There to Shampoo. I think Harold and Maude rocked my world in large part because it’s as shockingly dark as it is and oddly romantic and sweet and funny. Cat Stevens’ soundtrack matches the film so well that it’s difficult for me, to this day, to hear anything by him without it conjuring the film’s iconic imagery in my mind.

It would have been very easy to make our three reasons each of the breakout stars of the film: Ruth Gordon as the eighty-year-old love interest, Bud Cort as the death-obsessed young man, and Vivien Pickles as the wealthy, seen-everything mother. Instead, we went with three parts of the idiosyncratic story, each of which displays the extraordinary talents of the stars anyway. I will say that if we were allowed a fourth reason, I would also have included Harold’s visit to the military recruiting center. You’ll see.

Watch the Three Reasons here.

Observed