Movie: „Harold And Maude“ – Summary And Analysis Of The Movie’s Very First Minutes

Movie: „Harold And Maude“

(directed by Hal Ashby, scripted by Colin Higgins) Summary And Analysis

Of The Movie’s Very First Minutes

Film: “Harold and Maude”

(Regie: Hal Ashby, nach einem Drehbuch von Colin Higgins)

Zusammenfassung und Analyse der ersten Minuten des Films

Tim Blume

The first sequence of “Harold and Maude” can be summarized in the following way: We can meet Harold and Maude in a church for the first time, during the requiem of an 80- year-old male. Maude tries to approach Harold during the preacher’s sermon to ask him if he wants some liquorice. Harold denies and together with the few other visitors of requiem they leave the church talking about their reasons for visiting the church.

When the coffin is transported into the hearse a marching band playing happy music can be seen. Maude gets into the car, offering Harold a lift and saying they have to meet again. She asks Harold if he can sing or dance but Harold hesitatingly says no. Maude drives away by nearly crashing into the hearse and being honked by some other driver. The preacher now appears, complaining about Maude because she used his car to drive away.

The next shot was produced at Harold’s home. He sits on a chair, in the centre of the work or living room, across from his mother who asks him questions of a dating agency’s questionnaire. But Harold doesn’t answer those questions, instead his mother does so. During this interrogation, Harold charges a pistol to aim it at his mother but the stop to aim it at him, and then crosses him to finally pull the trigger. A loud bang can be heard and Harold – together with his chair – falls over, but his mom isn’t interested a bit, she goes on asking and answering questions.

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