Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Tue 29 Oct only @ 20:30

Hal Ashby / USA / 1971 / 91 mins

It’s been over 40 years since its original release, but Harold and Maude still has the power to shock. The unlikely love story between a wealthy but miserable young man and a vivacious elderly rebel exposes the stigma that’s still attached to age in our society. If you doubt its impact, imagine a remake starring  any current leading man – then try to find an actress who is actually willing to look like she’s 79.

The fashions, the palette and the Cat Stevens soundtrack all anchor the film resolutely in the 1970s, but the story still feels as fresh and funny as ever. It is full of exquisite set pieces, from Harold’s (Bud Cort) blind dates and elaborately staged “suicides”, to Maude’s ( Ruth Gordon) run-ins with the police and automotive kleptomania. It is perfectly cast as well – Gordon is at her most effervescent as the anarchic pensioner, and a perfectly deadpan Cort is by turns hilarious and heartrending as her morose young suitor.

The Filmhouse‘s excellent Come and See… season offers a welcome chance to catch one-off screenings of cinematic gems you may have missed. If you have not yet caught Hal Ashby’s unassuming little black comedy, now is the perfect chance.