It was a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9
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C’était un rendez-vous
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C’était un rendez-vous
Promotional poster for DVD release. The image is misleading, however, as it shows an exotic sports car rather than a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 - the actual car used in filming.
Directed by Claude Lelouch
Written by Claude Lelouch
Music by Sound of revving car
Distributed by Spirit Level (DVD)
Release date(s) 1976
Running time 9 min
Language None
C’était un rendez-vous (“It was a date”) is a short film (under 10 minutes) made in 1976 by Claude Lelouch, showing a high speed drive through Paris.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Exposition
2 Production
3 Route
4 Criticism
5 References
6 External links
[edit]Exposition
Typical scene
The film shows an eight-minute drive through Paris in the early hours of the morning (05:30hrs), accompanied by sounds of a high-reving engine, gear changes and squealing tires. It starts in a tunnel of the Paris Périphérique at Porte Dauphine, with an onboard view from an unseen car exiting up on a ramp to Avenue Foch. Well-known landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe, Opéra Garnier, and Place de la Concorde with its obelisk are passed, as well as the Champs-Élysées. Pedestrians are passed, pigeons sitting on the streets are scattered, red lights are ignored, one-way streets are driven up the wrong way, centre lines are crossed, the car runs on a pavement to avoid a refuse lorry. The car is never seen as the camera seems to be attached below the front bumper, judging from the relative positions of other cars, the visible headlight beam and the final shot when the car is parked in front of kerbstones on Montmartre, with the famous Cathedral Sacré Cœur behind, and out of shot. Here, the driver gets out and embraces a young blonde woman as bells ring in the background, with the famous backdrop of Paris.
[edit]Production
Shot in a single take, it is an example of cinéma-vérité. The length of the film was limited by the short capacity of the reel, and filmed from a gyro-stabilised camera mounted on the bumper of a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9.[2] 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)[3], while another[4] 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.[5]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 making-of-the-rendezvous documentary 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.[6]
Due to the increasing demand and the limited distribution of original tapes,[citation needed] the film has recently been re-mastered from the 35 mm negative and released on DVD.[7]
In 2007 part of the movie was used for Snow Patrol’s Open Your Eyes music video.
