25 Cult Movies You Must See Before You Die
7. Harold And Maude
After Harold And Maude, the aforementioned Lost In Translation's “unconventional” romance seems rather rote. Hal Ashby's genuinely offbeat dark comedy sees the morbidly death-obsessed teen Harold (Bud Cort) falling in love with Maude (Vivian Pickles), an elderly woman some sixty years his senior. Mainly because she's equally fixated on her mortality.
The laughs are coming, promise. The film was a key influence on similarly quirky modern-day directors like Wes Anderson, but it's not just Ashby's directorial style and taboo themes that have been carried on by his followers. It's also the sympathetic lens he views the outsiders of society through, the dignity he affords them that few don't.
There's plenty of moments where Harold and Maude's entanglement is highlighted as odd, but it's not a judgemental one. It's definitely non-traditional, but that's what makes it a story worth telling compared to the billion over rom-coms in the world. At least this offers something different and, in the process, a unique take on love.