Back to The Seventies-
Harold and Maude
(Finally- back to the movies!)
It has been so long since I saw Harold and Maude that I have to put it on my first time list. I didn't even remember the ending! Shame on me.

What I did remember correctly was how wonderful a movie it is. Mention the movie to me and I would have felt good. I would have smiled and said, "Ah, yes. Harold and Maude. What a movie." Now I remember why.

Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon are the title characters. They have no chemistry- and complete chemistry- throughout the movie. They almost relate past each other and yet become deeply involved. Harold is a rich young man obsessed with freaky actions. Maude is an almost 80-year old who insists that life is worth having a good time with. Only one brief scene about half way through the short 90-minute movie explains it all. If you blink you might miss it as the two sit along a bay and Harold glances down at Maude's arm. There, for a brief second, almost subliminally visible, is a tattooed number. All is clear. Life is the witness she must proclaim. Anything else would be to forget- a crime.

If you have never seen this cult comedy classic from 1971- do so. But be prepared for kookiness, quirkiness, dark humor (fake suicides abound) and out of left field sights. It may sound out of place to say that such a movie so filled with dark thoughts of death is incredibly life-affirming. That sounds like an oxymoron. Far from it. It has a lot to say to us all these years later.

Like this:

Maude: A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They're just backing away from life. *Reach* out. Take a *chance*. Get *hurt* even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me an E. L-I-V-E. LIVE!
[beat]
Maude: Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room.

Or this:

Harold: Maude.
Maude: Hmm?
Harold: Do you pray?
Maude: Pray? No. I communicate.
Harold: With God?
Maude: With *life*.

Death gets too much press, I have a hunch Maude would tell us, even as she walks to a funeral with a bright yellow umbrella. Life gets so short-changed. Go, celebrate. Live life and love. It's what we are meant to do.