MULTIMEDIA REFLECTION 3

A STRANGE MOVIE – HAROLD AND MAUDE

I watched a movie named Harold and Maude 2 days before I wrote this article and I still feel its influence on me! It is an absurd film, characters and the plot are really interesting, not common ones. It says on the screen that the movie consists of only Cat Stevens songs, which really makes me happy as I love Cat Stevens. At the very beginning of the film, a happy Cat Stevens song plays and a boy named Harold hang himself to ceiling with rope. I am really shocked at seeing it but a minute later, his mother enters the room and I infer from her talk that he just pretends to commit a suicide. The boy is really strange. He always pretends to commit suicide; he is obsessed with death. He rarely talks. He does not like people and talking to them. His only social activity is going to funerals with an old car he restored. At one funeral, he meets an old lady named Maude.  Maude is an interesting character, too. She lives alone, goes to funerals just like Harold. She is a free-spirited character. She says when she was young she attended political meetings and protests. As for now, she still emancipates herself from mental slavery, the society’s norms and clichés, which really impresses me. Another striking feature of Maude is that she steals other people’s cars, and sometimes hearses, after funerals, when going home. Harold and Maude become good friends and start going to funerals together. As the time goes by, they, Harold, a boy obsessed with death in his puberty, and Maude, a lady living joyfully in her 80, fall in love each other. Afterwards, the story goes on interestingly and the end of the movie is unforgettable. I really recommend this wonderful movie because it breaks the limit of concepts of love and friendship; it criticizes some features of society. It is such a nice and interesting story that everyone should do watch it.

 

 

Here is the trailer of Harold and Maude. It is really nice and at the background a Cat Stevens song “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing out” plays. When meeting each other, Harold and Maude are really having fun; they are so happy. In some scenes, we can see that Harold kills himself. That is because he is obsessed with death. He always pretends to commit suicide. Also, in some scenes, there are girls sitting and chatting with Harold’s mother. These girls are arranged by Harold’s mother to date with Harold because she wants her son to be married. However, by making jokes in front of girls, Harold frightens them and makes them all escape. As you can understand, he is not a normal boy. The movie is not normal, either. After you watch it, you will be full of happiness. That is why I strongly recommend you to watch it. Watch it, and come to me to talk about the movie. If you do not like it, I swear I will give up watching movies!