Hal Ashby
Harold And Maude

Hal Ashby is one of the most representative directors of 1970s USA cinema, he garnered very little and did not always direct the right screenplays, but he contributed to the seventh art with two of his films being authentic masterpieces, "Harold and Maude" from 1971 and "Being There", which came at the end of the decade and encapsulates the best streak of this somewhat unconventional author with a very Hippie philosophy of life.

"Harold And Maude" is a dark comedy written by Colin Higgins that introduces us to one of the strangest couples to appear on the big screen; Harold (Bud Cort) is a young man from a very wealthy family who has everything in life, but he has a problem: he is obsessed with death, and his favorite hobby is attending funerals. Maude (Ruth Gordon), on the other hand, is a lively old lady with the spirit of an eternal teenager, and meeting Harold will mark the start of an extraordinary adventure between two souls at opposite ends of life's journey. Ashby thus narrates a fairy tale, which he will repeat with "Being There", and both films share very similar traits, being two light and surreal stories that, however, ruthlessly analyze contemporary society, because while we are in the 1970s, things have not changed much, and many themes are very current, such as prejudice, conventional morality, and the way we approach life. These are the fundamental themes of this film, which is essentially an anthem to freedom while respecting differences, because only by understanding one's own diversity and managing to appreciate it is it possible to appreciate and respect others.

The character of Maude perfectly embodies the balance one can achieve in life; it doesn’t matter what kind of experiences you have, what's important is having them, as good or bad, they can only make you grow and improve. She is an eccentric and mysterious character who appears suddenly and changes Harold's life, yet little about her is said in the film, much like the mysterious character played by Sellers in "Being There". Maude must confront Harold's black and resigned humor (who drives an old hearse as a car), and manage to integrate him into life since the young protagonist lacks the ability to see the fresh and positive side hidden behind everything, and for protection he considers himself a misfit, staging fake suicides (all hilarious scenes) to draw attention in a structured society, symbolized by the bizarre figure of the war hero uncle, in the false respectability upheld by conventional and worn-out values. The film is a continuous succession of memorable scenes, one of which involves Ashby's outright attack on the culture of appearances, the Jaguar E-Type gift from his mother, which Harold transforms into a hearse, a determined celebration of the funeral of consumer society.

The Gordon-Cort couple is beautiful and offers moments of absolute magic, Cat Stevens' perfect soundtrack underscores all the most significant moments of the story with his songs, a comedy that has deservedly made its way into the history of cinema.