United States

They will defy everything you've ever seen or heard about screen lovers!
Harold and Maude is a wildly funny and original black comedy about the strange relationship that develops between a boy of 20 and a woman of 80. A wry lyrical ode to controlled lunacy. Harold, brilliantly portrayed by Bud Cort, is a rich young man, so neglected spiritually by his mother (Vivian Pickles) that he spends much of his time faking suicides. Progressively, they become more gory and realistic as he roams the country-side in his own hearse and spends his leisure moments watching other people's funerals. It is at one of these that he meets Maude (Ruth Gordon), a spritely old lady who also likes funerals, but only because she feels so alive herself. As their relationship develops, Maude teaches Harold to enjoy such simple things in life as song, dance and nature.