If Woody Allen Were To Die I Would Weep Like A Child

Oppenheimer the other night said 'did you listen to the soundtrack to Midnight In Paris?' and I hadn't. The music began and I was transported through all the nostalgia of Woody Allen's films from Radio Days to Annie Hall, The Purple Rose Of Cairo, Everybody Says I Love You, Hannah and Her Sisters, Whatever Works and on and on, the clarinet of Sidney Bechet just drifting you through the annals of his masterful film making and I almost wept like a child. Nobody can capture nostalgia like Woody Allen. When I first watched Annie Hall I was studying for my HSC exams and I switched off from my English studies to turn on the television. Diane Keaton and Woody Allen were walking through the sandy heaths of Long Island and I just fell in love with it instantaneously. The dialogue, the characters, the flow. In one small moment I became a lifelong disciple. I then told Oppenheimer about it and subsequently that is just about all we do with our lives now - wait for the next Woody Allen film and talk about his body of work so far.

Incidentally, the film below is close to my heart. In 2007 I spent 4 months in Paris and during that time I struck up a friendship with Owen Wilson who at the time was hanging out in Paris. I had the pleasure of cycling around Paris with Owen, going to jazz clubs, nightclubs and I believe I was the first person to take him to the Brasserie Lipp. I probably remember a lot more of it than old Owen, but nevertheless, when this film came out I could not help but feel that I had somehow played my own part in it. Enjoy the music of Sidney Bechet below and don't be ashamed if you too weep like a child recalling fondly all the memories of the cinema of Woody Allen and entwining them with your own experiences.

To read more about Sidney Bechet, click here

PS: Si tu vois ma mere - translates to 'if you see my mother' - how Woody!!!