Rendez-vous: Racing through Paris in a Ferrari

C'etait un rendez-vous (English: It was a date) is a short film made in 1976 by Claude Lelouch, showing a nine-minute drive through Paris at 5:30 AM.
Despite (or due to) the limited availability of video tapes, it gained cult status over the years among motoring enthusiasts who admired the experience of speed and the reckless style of driving.
Due to the increasing popularity and the lack of original tapes, the film has recently been re-mastered from the 35 mm negative and released on DVD, as well as being published on the Internet.
This example of a cinéma vérité film was made in a single take with no editing, using a camera attached to the bumper of a car. The length of the film thus was limited by the capacity of the camera reel which lasted under 10 minutes.

[wiki]
bamdrewsays...

i've seen and read a lot about this excellent film; there is evidence to suggests this was actually a camera mounted to the director's Mercedes driving very fast, with the film slightly sped up in post and the audio heavily doctored.

spoco2says...

It would seem it's more than 'evidence to suggest'. Also from the wiki


Comments from Lelouch prove that the vehicle that carried the camera was his Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9.[1] A picture was released of Lelouch working with the gyro stabilized camera on his Mercedes. This model, which could reach a top speed of 235 km/h (146 mph), was only available with a 3-speed automatic transmission. Yet, one can hear gear changes up into 5th, as well as heel-and-toe down-shifting with a high-revving engine indicating speeds of well over 200 km/h. Calculations made by several independent groups showed that the car never exceeded 140 km/h (85 mph)[1], while another[2] estimated that the car had peaked at 220 km/h (136.7 mph). Lelouch himself claimed that the top speed achieved was over 200 km/h, somewhere between 230 km/h and 240 km/h.[3]It is suggested that the sound was dubbed with the noise of Lelouch's 275GTB, which has a corresponding number of gears and a similar engine note.

A May 2006 making-of-the-rendezvous documentary[4] indicates that Lelouch himself was the driver, that the car driven was the Mercedes, although the sound track is from a Ferrari. One observer was posted close to the Louvre palace at a blind junction (archway) to assist the driver.


Personally, I don't think much of the movie, as he stated that this was done for real on the streets... and as such put people at great risk of death.

If this had ended with the Mercedes slamming into a pedestrian or other car, would it be as popular?

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