Monologue - "L-I-V-E"

Jose here with the Monday Monologue.



When nineteen year old Harold Chase (Bud Cort) meets seventy-nine year old Maude (Ruth Gordon) at a stranger's funeral, he has little idea of what she has in store for him. The eccentric lady shows him how to live, not in the corny sense we've come to see recently in movies about dying people, but in a more active way.

She gets him out of his rich kid world (which he already loathes) by reminding him that "It ain't about morality"

With that in mind they steal cars to go plant stolen trees to the forest, attend funerals of people they never met before and they smoke, seemingly illegal, herbs before plunging into deep conversation.

It's during one of these smoke-and-talks where Harold confesses,

I haven't lived
I've died a few times

And Maude listens surprised while Harold reveals how he became so obsessed with death...

Well, the first time was when I was at boarding school in the chemistry lab. I was in there cleaning it up, so I decided I'd do a little experiment...
so I throw this stuff out, begin mixing it up-very scientific.

There was this massive explosion! It knocked me down, blew out a huge hole on the floor.
There was boards and bricks and flames leaping up!

I figured, you know, time to leave. My career in school was over...

So I went home, my mother was giving a party, so I just ran up the backstairs, went to my room, turned on the light and got this funny feeling. The doorbell rang, I went out to the banister and two policemen came in. They found my mother and told her that I was killed in the fire.

I decided right there that I enjoyed being dead

The scene is moving because of the sincerity with which Cort delivers the lines. It explains, if anything ever could, why he'd tried to set himself on fire before in the film. With this scene we stop holding on to the idea that he's a spoiled brat and begin to empathize with him.

But this moment truly belongs to Gordon. Some people believe that an actor shows his mastery of the craft by his ability to listen.
If that's the case, then Gordon sits and listens like a pro, before she goes and gives Harold a sweet pep talk about taking risks in life and being bold enough as to get hurt in the process. "Otherwise you got nothing to talk about in the locker room" she says.

And we can only imagine all the things someone like her had to talk about...
*

The Link Ness Monster

Jane Fonda's Blog!!! Why is it that it took me 29 whole days to discover that she was writing a blog? I lurve me some Fonda. Topics so far have included the inauguration, her father as Abraham Lincoln, dreams of Bob Redford, her dog, her dressing room (she's rehearsing for a play) and Danny Boyle --yes, Slumdog Millionaire has invaded ever nook and cranny of everything. I am pretty sure that Slumdog Millionaire was appearing in some way on every channel on my cable box yesterday and every website I visited, too. I think I accidentally sprinkled some Slumdog Millionaire on my pizza today. If you cut me I would bleed Slumdog Millionaire. (February 23rd can't come quickly enough!)

Mighty God King defines "nerdy". It needed to be done
TMZ assaults Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins with questions at the airport. I don't think he's used to this treatment, god bless.
Slant insightful piece on Oscar's best score category
Erik Lundegaard gives out "Lundys", a fun award for the best review of each Best Picture nominee
Pop Elegantarium Harold and Maude finger puppets? I'm dying here


popbytes Scarjo is blonde no more!
The Bad and the Ugly brings together all the Dollhouse promos. Eliza Dushku makes me drool. Drooling is not good for keyboards
Ephemerist on the preparations for the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack
The Carpetbagger amused by Jon Stewart's take on Benjamin Button. Have you seen it? So funny.
Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves Poor Puppy Bale. Daddy is a mean one

..and a couple of Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue photoshoots for Australia and The Wrestler




Here are some photos if that vid is not enough... and how could it be since there's no ... COVER. Argh.

"Grab the shovel, Harold."

.
.

To Ruth

From Adam of Club Silencio:

"The earth is my body; my head is in the stars. "

Of all the endearing wisdom that Maude gave to Harold during their May 1st/December 31st romance, that one seems particularly special given the anniversary of Ruth Gordon's death. She lived to the full age of 88, passing on August 28, 1985. I can't imagine there was a more hilarious woman of her generation. Someone just as likely to teach you the splendors of life as to dose your chocolate mousse... Either way it's "snips and snails and puppy dog's tails!"

There would have been a vast hole left in cinema without Ruth Gordon. We'd certainly never value life and we might even trust the elderly.


Her turn as the nosy Minnie Castevet is so completely delightful. How often can you say that about your neighbors, let alone one who's a Satanist? Her character's devious deeds would be nothing without Gordon's disarming nature. She looks like someone who'd play bridge with your grandma, and you'd kindly eat her inedible desserts. Even if she told me she was responsible for my birthing Satan's offspring, I'd just laugh and force down another slice.


And then there's Maude... Brought to charming life by Gordon, she's one of the most inspirational and life-affirming figures in cult cinema. Greeting card sentiments would wear on most audiences, but Gordon gives them a vibrancy so human that they dig right to the heart. She creates in Maude a spirited memorial to living life to the fullest, while stopping to honor death along the way.

So let's all steal a tree and transplant it in her honor. Here's to Ruth with her head in the stars.


Send her your love in the comments!

Linksburgh

MNPP celebrates Kathleen Turner's birthday yesterday (yes, I forgot. I suck. Sorry Kathleen!)
Webster's Is My Bitch "stuck up" Reese Witherspoon. Hee. I love that blog
Good Magazine really cool auteur tribute to Hal Ashby (Harold & Maude, Coming Home) by Alexander Payne, David O' Russell and more...
The House Next Door a post-mortem on SIFF. "Worst Film" goes to Mysteries of Pittsburgh. I'm telling you... I've been considering joining the boycott. I will probably never watch this on account of the depressing liberties it takes with a great novel that didn't need liberties taken.

NY Asian Film Festival begins today. Concludes on July 6th. See something wild... like Takeshi Kaneshiro as an angel of death with a talking dog. --->
Best Week Ever "Why Are These Famous Men Crying?"
i09 has a piece on that new HBO vampire series Tru Blood starring Anna Paquin (with screen caps)
The Editing Room Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (snarky abridged script)

And under the "I wish I'd written that" banner please enjoy this Wanted post from Piper @ Lazy Eye Theater which contains the following unassailable truth and hilarity:

Let's pause on this cat-like look. Look at that determination. That fury. I just want to roll around naked with her.