By Kevin B. Lee
Filmmaker Jonathan Demme introduced a special Valentine's Day screening of Harold and Maude (1971), directed by Hal Ashby, at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. House Next Door contributor Kevin Lee was there to film the event. Video is accessible after the break and can also be viewed here.
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Kevin B. Lee is a filmmaker based in New York City. He has written for Cinema-Scope, The Chicago Reader, Senses of Cinema and Slant. His website is www.alsolikelife.com.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Jonathan Demme on Harold and Maude
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6 comments:
Harold and Maude = great.
I've never seen Demme in person. He seems like a smart, open-hearted man. Like one of those teachers whose classes you never missed in college.
His unreserved endorsement of Paul Thomas Anderson was interesting, considering how much PTA obviously learned from watching Demme's movies. However, he does note that where Ashby, in his opinion, found his true voice with his second film, it took PTA five films (Demme says six; is he mistaken, or is he counting the movie PTA made with his friends in high school?). I don't think Demme meant that to knock PTA as much as to praise Ashby.
I personally think Ashby hit it out of the park with his first film, The Landlord, but your mileage may vary.
I've never seen THE LANDLORD, but clearly I should - along with the other Ashby flicks I've not seen. Looking at IMDB, it seems that after BEING THERE, the guy had a rough time. In the book "Easy Riders and Raging Bulls" (I know - a text with a notoriously dubious reputation), someone - Altman maybe? - is quoted as saying something like "There's no greater Hollywood tragedy than what happened to Hal Ashby." Whoever said whatever the hell it was, the idea stuck with me, and so I've always viewed him as something of a tragic figure.
HAROLD AND MAUDE is such an obviously great movie that I don't even bother to champion it anymore. Hell, the Farrelly brothers do it for me in THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. And I'm sure that's not the only place. It seems like the go-to reference for screenwriters to use when they want to show just how damm cool someone is. And who am I to argue? The more people check out H & M due to excessive pop culture references, the better. At least they're seeing it.
But if someone put a gun to my head (which is what it would take), I'd pick SHAMPOO over it.
The Farrelly Brothers introduced me to Harold and Maude. I'm not kidding. (If it weren't for that referential homage in There's Something About Mary, I would've not likely sought it out.)
Anyhow, the film's just beautiful -beautiful and sad. Every time I think about the film, Cat Stevens' lyrics reverberate in my mind:
Well, if you want to sing out, sing out/ And if you want to be free, be free/ Cause theres a million things to be/ You know that there are
I guess the film speaks to me on a very gut level - it's about freedom... freedom not only as a state of being, but a state of will.
I love this quote, by the late screenwriter Colin Higgins: "We're all Harold, and we all want to be Maude. We're all repressed and trying to be free, to be ourselves, to be vitally interested in living, to be everything we want . . ."
ross -
Re: Hollywood tragedy line
I thought it was Warren Beatty who said that, but I might be wrong - it's been a while since I read the book.
Aside: The only ironic caveat I took from Biskind's book is an aphorism that, apparently, used to hang on the wall in Peter Bogdanovich's office: "All good films are made in Hollywood."
HAROLD AND MAUDE was my favorite film of Ashby's before I finally got a chance to see THE LANDLORD last year. That was my favorite cinema-going experience all of last year. Does anyone have any info if this will be released on DVD? I haven't seen anything on the internet.
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