C'etait un Rendezvous

0utshined

I saw this on Top Gear a year or two ago and am after coming across it on the net again this weekend. I thought that some of ye might be interested in seeing it.

On an August morning in 1978, French filmmaker 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 course was from Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

The text is here : http://www.jerrykindall.com/2005/11/07_cetait_un_rendezvous.asp

and there is a download available here : http://picapic.net/media/4XXGCZ3

It's 35MB and it needs sound but it's a very interesting view I think.

junkyard

Great stuff, must get the DVD. Red lights mean nothing to that guy.:D

0utshined

Well I have the 150MB version of it if anyone has hosting.

I know the city a little so it's good noticing some of the streets he's going down. I'm especially fond of the scene at the start when he's driving toward the Champs d'Elise.

The lack of traffic helps matters but he does have a lot of skill driving the car.

junkyard

Excuse my ignorance but what's hosting?

unkel

Fantastic! Thoroughly enjoyed watching it, thanks for sharing

0utshined wrote:

Well I have the 150MB version of it if anyone has hosting.

I'd love to see and keep the full quality version.

0utshined wrote:

I know the city a little so it's good noticing some of the streets he's going down. I'm especially fond of the scene at the start when he's driving toward the Champs d'Elise.

My favourite bit of the vid is the approach to Opera and then onto Galeries Lafayette

0utshined wrote:

The lack of traffic helps matters but he does have a lot of skill driving the car.

Aye. Have you any links or background to the film? Looks like it might have been shot around 5-6 am on a Sunday in summer?

dahamsta

0utshined wrote:

Well I have the 150MB version of it if anyone has hosting.

What's the filename so I can grep emule for it?

0utshined

Junkyard,

Hosting is somewhere I could put up the file for you guys to download!

unkel,

As far as I know it was shot between 5 and 6 on an August morning when there wasn't a lot of traffic about. I don't have a whole lot of info on the film but here's what I do have.

The route :

Bd Périphérique · Av Foch · Pl Charles-de-Gaulle · Av des Champs-Elysées · Pl de la Concorde · Quai des Tuileries · Pl du Carrousel · R de Rohan · Av de l'Opéra · Pl de l'Opéra · R Halévy · R de la Chausée d'Antin · Pl d'Estienne d'Orves · R Blanche · R Pigalle · Pl Pigalle · Bd de Clichy · (aborted turn at R Lepic) · R Caulaincourt · Av Junot · Pl Marcel Aymé · R Norvins · Pl du Tertre · R Ste-Eleuthère · R Azais · Pl du Parvis du Sacré Cœur





The car :

A Ferrari 275 GTB



The driver :
(On the left and if it wasn't the director)

http://www.knoos.org/images/Jacques_Lafitte_WG_bs.jpg


A page analysing the speed :

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2005/Rendezvous.shtml

And the wikipedia page :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%27%C3%A9tait_un_rendez-vous

0utshined

The filename I have is Rendezvous.avi

dahamsta

I suppose it's just the makeup of the roads or something (it's been a while since I was there, but I think a lot of the Paris streets are cobbled or concrete?), but it looks and sounds unnatural to me. The tyre sqeal in particular sounds completely unnatural, but the revs, gears and speeds don't seem to tally either. The latter could be because it's an older car though, I thought it was a newer Ferrari until I googled it. (Not a Ferrari fan.)

adam

junkyard

Thanks Outshined, and thanks for showing us the video.

0utshined

No probs Junkyard.

Ken Shabby,
The tire squeal is due to the tires that were being used back then, It was done in 1978.

unkel

Just saw the remastered 150MB version. Stunning

It was actually shot in 1976 and the driver was Jacques Laffite, one of the very best drivers in the world at the time as anyone watching this vid will appreciate or someone as old as myself will remember from 70s F1

ubu

You could host it here:
http://www.yousendit.com/

unkel

Lelouch about his arrest:

Lelouch has described the audience reaction when Rendezvous was first released: "People were exhilarated by the action but morally outraged by the method. I can't say I blame them." Lelouch confessed to being the driver: "Of course. It was my film, and I was fully prepared to take the risks." He was also arrested for his exploits. "They took a look at the film, and the chief of police called me in;" Lelouch recounted. "He read me a list of all the offenses I'd committed. It was never-ending. When he finished, he gave me a black look and asked for my driver's license. He contemplated it for a few moments, then gave it back with a large smile on his face. He said, `I promised I would take your license, but I didn't say for how long.' I was stupefied. It was a symbolic punishment. Then he added, `My children love your little film.'"

Obviously he took the blame confessing he was the driver even though he wasn't

junkyard

I think secretly the French approve of fast driving in general. Any films that are made there seem to get the full backing of the local police etc., the same goes for the Italians. They always seem to have the best car chases, like the Italian job and Ronin to name a few, they seem to be more realistic anyway. Of course they have better roads for starters. I think our roads are deliberatly left in poor repair to keep people from speeding... they are down south anyway. There's no doubt that the roads are better in Dublin.

WizZard

0utshined wrote:

The filename I have is Rendezvous.avi

Fancy seeding it as a torrent?

Hagar

junkyard wrote:

I think secretly the French approve of fast driving in general.

It's no secret, they're mad bastards over here.

milltown

I have the DVD version. It's only ~1GB iirc. I could up a torrent of it if the mods don't object and we can agree on a site.

Seanie M

A real eye-opener that one! Thanks for the links with the info too!

Seanie.

mike65

I cant say i approve! Anyone spot the lady crossing the street at a junction as he turned right? Yes I know he had far better vision than the camera would have.

Another thing, is'nt it great to see the Parisians get thier rubbish collected early in the day even in August when everyone goes south?

Its a strange undertaking for Lelouch as his films are notoriously sentimental and frankly light brained. God knows what Luc Bresson would do with the same idea!

Mike.

mike65

Here's another one, beware its fecking huge (259 mb!)

Clicky linky for download Getaway in Stockholm.

Mike.

Our man in Havana

mike65 wrote:

Here's another one, beware its fecking huge (259 mb!)

Clicky linky for download Getaway in Stockholm.

Mike.

I think I shall wait till I am back at work to download that.

0utshined

Here's a torrent for it. Not sure how fast the upload is going to be for ye all. If there's any problems with it let me know.

http://rapidshare.de/files/7693541/Rendezvous.avi.torrent.html

el tel

a 34Mb movie can be downloaded here:
http://aoctavio.castpost.com/rendezvous20_04.mov

Not too long ago the Dutch car magazine AutoVisie did some research on
Rendezvous and found out the following:

"It is true the average and max speed is not that impressive, but it
took them 16.5 minutes, in a Chrysler Crossfire in the middle of the
night, twice the time. The car used in the original movie is a Renault
Alpine Berlinetta, driver NOT Lelouch himself but Jean-Louis Schlesser
(later F1 testdriver) and the car on the soundtrack was a 66-67 330P,
probably taped on owner Pierre Bardinon's personal track, although they are not sure about that last thing."