The Twin Geeks 115: Harold And Maude

The charming and hilarious story of a young rich boy obsessed with death and romantically entangled with a life-loving septuagenarian who has a penchant for posing nude and stealing cars, is a tale as old as time, or so it feels in the perennially charming Harold and Maude. Hal Ashby's beloved romantic black comedy captures our hearts with its reflections on the embrace of life juxtaposed with a constant fixation on death that often penetrates the uncertain minds of the youth. For any teenager on the cusp of adulthood, uncertain of their direction in life and wary of what the future may hold, Harold and Maude is sure to be an appealing favorite. The charming dynamic shared between Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon, as well as the highly comical mock-suicide attempts injecting the film with gut-busting black comedy, makes Harold and Maude an irresistible film to love. It seamlessly balances the morbid with the joyous, exploring the spaces in between to arrive at an optimistic conclusion about how we should approach life. Accompanied by some of the most inspiring folk tunes of the day, courtesy of legendary artist Cat Stevens, Harold and Maude makes an indelible impression thanks to Ashby's laudable direction in this touchstone of early '70s cinema. Timestamps: 0:00 Fun in the sun: Pools, vaccines, and The Beach Boys 11:07 Six Feet Under (2001 — 2005) 15:38 Disenchantment (2018 — Present) 21:40 In the Earth 28:50 David’s Documentary Discourse: Long Live the King (2016) 41:25 Harold and Maude