I watch only one or two films a year, including one at the Irish Film Institute in Dublin every July, with a friend. So it would be fair to say few people are less knowledgeable about films than myself. But I watched more films as a young man, and one that remains dear to my memory is Annie Hall (1977), directed by and starring Woody Allen. The part of Annie Hall was played by Diane Keaton, who sadly died yesterday. Wikipedia reports that many of Keaton’s mannerisms and self-deprecating sense of humor were added into the role by Allen. Keaton once said that Allen wrote the character as an “idealised version” of herself.

I must have been 19 or 20 when I saw the film. and simply fell in love with the kooky main character, played by Keaton. It is said that Keaton remained close to Allen to the end of her days, and to her great credit never joined in the character assassinations of Allen in relation to his intimate relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, Mia Farrow’s then 21-year-old adopted daughter.

An extract from the Wikipedia page on the film takes up the rest of this blog post:

Annie Hall was screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival on March 27, 1977, before its official release in the United States on April 20, 1977. The film received widespread critical acclaim, and was nominated for the Big Five Academy Awards, winning four: the Academy Award for Best Picture, two for Allen (Best Director and, with Brickman, Best Original Screenplay), and Best Actress for Keaton. The film additionally won four BAFTA Awards, including Best Film, Best Direction (for Allen), Best Screenplay (for both Allen and Brickman) and Best Actress in a Leading Role (for Keaton), in addition to the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical (for Keaton). The film’s box office receipts in the United States and Canada of $38,251,425 are fourth-best of Allen’s works when not adjusted for inflation.

Regarded among the greatest films ever made, it ranks 31st on AFI‘s list of the 100 greatest films in American cinema, 4th on their list of the greatest comedy films and 28th on Bravo’s “100 Funniest Movies”. Film critic Roger Ebert called it “just about everyone’s favorite Woody Allen movie”.

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