"C'etait un Rendezvous," Claude Lelouch's thrilling ride through the streets of Paris on an early morning in 1978
Here's the story behind this amazing short film, via Hollywood Elsewhere...
On an August morning in 1978, French director Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a Ferrari 275 GTB and had a friend, a professional Formula 1 racer, drive at breakneck speed through the heart of Paris.
The film was limited for technical reasons to 10 minutes. The driver barrel-assed all the way from Porte Dauphine (on the city's western edge, adjacent to the Bois de Bologne) to the Basilica Sacre Coeur in Montmartre.
No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit. The driver completed the course in about 9 minutes, reaching nearly 140 mph (or was it kph?) in some stretches. The footage reveals him running real red lights, nearly hitting real pedestrians, and driving the wrong way up several one-way streets.
Upon showing the film in public for the first time, Lelouch was arrested. He has never revealed the identity of the driver, and the film went underground until a DVD release a few years ago.
Buckle your seatbelt.. And please, PLEASE, wait for the ending...
c´etait un rendezvous from megahoschi on Vimeo.
(via Bunnynico)
10 comments:
I knew that's what the ending was going to be.
The moral of this story: NEVER keep a smoking hot Euro-babe waiting.
am I slow today? Why the pleading to wait for the ending?
That was actually pretty fucking amazing--that's how I'd like to see Paris, possibly a little drunk and cruising at about 120 mph. And the ending kind of sealed it, really.
@adrienne...um, hello?!?! to see what he was willing to kill himself for at the end...a beautiful woman, of course. :)
I don't mean to rain on the parade, but Claude has since admitted a couple of things about this film.
1) He drove the car, not an F1 driver.
2) Sadly, the car was not a Ferrari 275 (he dubbed the sound later). It was his own Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9 (which are pretty badass and fast anyway--see: Ronin).
I don't think either of these facts detracts at all from how awesome this film is, however. It's sill one of my favorites. Thanks for the post!
Actually it was a mercedes sedan not a ferrari and the speed was nowhere near 100 mph, more like a consistent 60-70, the added sound makes it seem all the more thrilling -- still I love this video!
Caj,
I've followed your blog for quite a while. I've always felt we were some sort of kindred spirits, but this validates that idea even more. I had a 2nd generation VHS tape of this in the 80's, and would play it for friends (who all loved it). I now have the remastered DVD, and it rocks on a large plasma with a surround system.
I guess we've all done crazy things for women at one time or another!
damn, link is no longer good!
It is true that Lelouch has claimed it was a Mercedes and that he was driving and that they weren't really going 130 mph. It is also true that that story is part of how he extricated himself from the legal hot water he found himself in. Speaking as someone who has driven vintage V12 Ferraris, the soundtrack -- complete with shadowing as the car goes under bridges, expert racing-style downshifts (including a few missed ones, as if the driver is somewhat unfamiliar with that specific car) -- is an EXTREMELY convincing rendition of a 275 GTB being driven on that course, at those speeds, by a pro.
I realize that certain internet anoraks have taken it upon themselves to "prove" that the movie is fakery. I would bet that none of those folks have any actual experience behind the wheel of a '60s V12 Ferrari. If that's dubbed, the sound editor deserves a retroactive Oscar.
Post a Comment