Sunday, April 7, 2013

Did That Just Happen?!!? Harold, Maude, and Mortality.


Harold and Maude, have you heard of differently funny much?  This metaphor filled adventure plays on the society of how people interact and view life.  This is certainly a character driven film.  Most of the humor itself comes from the characters and lack of knowledge of the way the characters view life.  I was unsure how to react at the start of the movie and this is what causes the situational humor is due to the audiences lack of knowledge of the characters.   I was truly freaking out as he jumped off and the lady that turned out to be his mother was completely ignoring him.  I literally yelled “go help him, he could still make it!!”  Then as I saw his smile I started to see the development of the character and the evolution of the movie.
The way the characters Harold and Maude interact in society and with each other is a very unique and unlike normal reactions between people.  The way in which Maude has a habit of stealing cars seems funny to me that an old woman would be up to that type of mischief.  Or after I believe the second funeral in which she notices Harold, he gets in the car with her and as she just seems to be having a joyride of her life and having fun driving recklessly, she asks if Harold had ever driven in a Hearst.  I got quite a laugh out of that simply because he replies yes, I actually drive one, this one to be specific and I found that very funny.  The type of humor in this movie is very unlike most comedy films that puts laugh out loud in your face type of humor.  I believe this is why I enjoyed this movie so much, is that it takes a different approach to humor, and it is unlike most.  Instead of using a laugh track or having someone in the film actually laughing at something, it uses witty humor and lets you discover it yourself in each situation.  The metaphors of life and death and how society views them or interacts with the ideas of each create a very enjoyable film that one with an open mind will find truly enjoyable and able to get a good laugh.  

1 comment:

  1. Excellent commentary on the type of humor. I think this is a film that people could easily see as funnier the second/third time around.

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