Harold and Maude 4K 1971 Ultra HD 2160p

Young, wealthy, and obsessed with the idea of death, Harold discovers that he has changed forever when he meets the vivacious 70-year-old Maud at a funeral.

User Review

How might a meeting at a cemetery end—yes, the most ordinary meeting at the most ordinary cemetery? Nothing good, you might say. And you’d be wrong. Sometimes Fate throws strange surprises our way, without the slightest regard for exactly where we’re going to encounter them. So, during the funeral of a complete stranger, Harold happened to spot Maude. These things happen—two people who are completely different, yet in some ways very similar, suddenly cross paths. For example, Harold is a severely depressed teenager with the makings of a decent actor, and Maud is a 75-year-old restless adventurer.

It’s hard to imagine a stranger pair: she’s an elderly car thief; he’s a young boy who fakes his own death several times a day. She can’t imagine a single day without action; she’s funny, never gets down, and, with a charming smile on her face, ponders the best age to leave this world. He is—as they’d say today—a proponent of a “true-gothic” worldview, disillusioned with life before he’s even had a chance to experience it, pensive and apathetic. Both, with a kind of maniacal consistency, love attending other people’s funerals, deriving a strange aesthetic pleasure from the experience. She does it to feel life more keenly; he does it to immerse himself in the spirit of death. They are both lonely—she because of her age, he because of his nature.

One is tempted to say, “And so two lonely souls met…” Though, to be honest, Maud has never suffered from a lack of companionship. And even though no one awaits her at home—only old memories—she has learned simply to love life, and perhaps she will succeed in sharing this important skill with others. Harold is a different story—in his elegant mansion, his mother awaits him, determined to marry him off in order to shape his character. Every day brings a new round of prospective brides, and every time, a new way to get rid of them. Sometimes both the brides and the methods are quite strange—and sometimes quite amusing. But that’s normal, because this whole story is, in itself, a very intriguing spectacle. So much exquisite dark humor packed into just an hour and a half, so many clever and original dialogues. The atmosphere itself—created through skillful cinematography, colorful sets, and excellent music—along with the characters’ appearances, from their costumes down to their facial expressions and manner of speaking—all of this is interesting in its own right, and taken together, it makes this a true little masterpiece. Perhaps not for everyone, though.

What can you expect from a film made way back in 1971, whose opening scene is what a good movie usually ends with? As it turns out—anything. Some will get a boost of great cheer, others will learn a valuable life lesson, and still others will complain about precious time wasted and the utter immorality of what’s happening on screen. However, even such a reaction is easily understandable.

For many, the romantic comedy genre seems like something extremely lighthearted, built on long-established formulas and crammed with clichéd jokes. Well, “Harold & Maude” is neither a typical romantic comedy nor a classic comedy. This is due to its dark humor, as well as its overall level of sophistication, which is far above that of classic light-hearted fare, at times bordering on social satire and subtle, biting irony. As for the melodramatic element, let me remind you that the age difference between our couple is more than half a century. So, if you suffer from a chronic lack of a sense of humor and a total aversion to anything that strays even slightly from the norm—please refrain from watching it. As experience shows, there won’t be an adequate reaction in such a case anyway. To all other connoisseurs of good cinema: if you happen to stumble upon this film—don’t miss it. Especially if a rainy autumn reigns in your heart and smiles are becoming a rare sight on your face. Perhaps the story of Harold and Maude will be that bittersweet pill for you—one that, once swallowed, will heal you.

Info Video

Codec: HEVC / H.265 (80.2 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Info Audio

#English: FLAC 1.0
#English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
#English: FLAC 2.0
#German: Dolby Digital 2.0
#Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
#French: Dolby Digital 2.0
#Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0
#Portuguese: Dolby Digital 2.0

Info Subtitles

English SDH (PGS), Chinese (Hong Kong / Traditional) (PGS), Chinese (Traditional) (PGS), Croatian (PGS), Czech (PGS), Danish (PGS), Dutch (PGS), Finnish (PGS), French (Metropolitan) (PGS), German (PGS), Italian (PGS), Japanese (PGS), Korean (PGS), Norwegian (PGS), Portuguese (Brazilian) (PGS), Romanian (PGS), Serbian (PGS), Slovak (PGS), Slovenian (PGS), Spanish (Castilian) (PGS), Swedish (PGS), Turkish.