I can agree that the movie “Harold and Maude” is a romance, and also an inspiration.
Maude said “Here today, gone tomorrow, don’t get too attached to anything” and in that way I think it is similar to what the message of Celestina tried to deliver. Unrequited affection, and not having any control over desire, are big contributors to the tragedy of love and unhappiness in life. Maude knows this. She has lived through adversity (survivor of a concentration camp) and heartache (loss of her husband) and she has learned not to take anything in life too seriously and just to enjoy every minute. This is why the movie is so inspirational.

Harold, hasn’t learned this valuable message yet. At first he doesn’t have any desire for living. He tempts death and doesn’t care to live or explore the world’s beauty. Then he meets Maude, a unique old woman who introduces him to the spice of life. He learns control over his desire only when Maude kills herself on her 80th birthday. Harold falls in love with Maude because she shows him the pleasure of life and in that way, even after she dies, her lessons will live on. To me, this is why the movie is also considered a romance.

The age difference in the movie creeped me out a little, but less so when I consider Maude as just a muse for teaching Harold some valuable life lessons. In a way it also reminds me of Eternal Sunshine, in the way that an unlikely pair find each other and enlighten each other in love. I loved the soundtrack too. Cat Stevens is still one of my favorites, even though he is a “terrorist”.