Harold Ramis
Harold Ramis also wrote and directed films like Ghostbusters, Caddyshack and Stripes Reuters

Hollywood great Harold Ramis died aged 69 this week, leaving behind a legacy of some of the most enduring and beloved comedies of the 20<sup>th century.

His last great film as director was 1993's existential fantasy comedy Groundhog Day, which he also wrote. It is a near-perfect film about a sarcastic weatherman (Bill Murray) stuck re-living the same day over and over again.

In this video, filmed in 2009 at a talk for the Hudson Union Society, Harold Ramis likens Groundhog Day and its success to Jewish scripture the Torah, and how each year Jews read it again and find new meaning.

"One reason Jews respond to the idea is that the Torah is read every year - you start at the same place on the same day," he said. "The Torah doesn't change, but every year we read it we are different. Our lives have changed ... and you find new meaning in it as we change."

"I'm not comparing Groundhog Day to the Torah," he was quick to add. "But there's something in it that allows people every time they see it to reconsider where they are in life and question their own habitual behaviours.

"It's not just something for everyone. The film is the film. It does not change," he said. "But everybody project[s] something onto the film."

Ramis died peacefully earlier this week, surrounded by his family, after a long battle with illness.

You can watch the video here (embedding is disabled)