Rendez-vous

C'était un rendez-vous

Writer	Claude Lelouch
Starring	Unknown
Director	Claude Lelouch
Producer
Distributor	Spirit Level (DVD)
Music
Released	1976
Runtime	9 min.
Language	None
Budget
Music
Awards
Imdb id	0169173

C'était un rendez-vous (English: It Was an Appointment) 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.

Concept

While Lelouch was shooting another film, he used a new piece of equipment - a gyro-stabilised camera mount. Lelouch then came up with the idea for C'était un Rendezvous. The camera only had a ten minute film magazine - hence the mad dash to the steps of the Basilique du Sacre Coeur in Montmartre.

Plot Summary

Typical scene

The film shows an 8-minute drive through Paris in the early hours of the morning, accompanied by sounds of a high-revving 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-Elysées. 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 sidewalk to avoid a garbage truck. 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 curbstones on the Sacre Coeur hill. Here, the driver gets out and embraces a young blonde woman as bells ring in the background.

The same basic idea was later used in movies such as Getaway in Stockholm, Ghost Rider, and more extensively in Nissan's 350Z commercial "The Run".

Speculations

In promotions, by fans and in various internet discussions, it is often claimed or speculated that the film uses Lelouch's own Ferrari 275 GTB, some other Ferrari type, an Alpine, or even a Le Mans prototype race car (largely believed to be a Matra, which was a successful racer a few years before the filming). Some even boldly state the type or color of the car, despite it never being seen. For the anonymous driver, professional racers of the time like Jacques Laffite, Jacky Ickx or Petar Vranesevic were suspected.

Calculations made by several independent groups showed that the car never exceeded 140 km/h (85 mph), while another 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.

Comments from Lelouch prove that the vehicle that carried the camera was his Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9. 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, was only available with a 3-speed automatic transmission. Yet, one can hear gear changes up into 5th, with a high-revving engine indicating speeds of well over 200 km/h. Sometimes one can hear the driver miss gears while attempting to shift as fast as possible, something that is impossible with automatic transmission, proving that the sound was dubbed. 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. (We all know it was a Ferrari but Ferrari would have had a conniption fit knowing this and would have probably not sold him another car...Mercedes-Benz on the other hand; would!).

A May 2006 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.

Route

The route was as follows: Bd Périphérique at Porte Dauphine · Avenue Foch · Pl Charles-de-Gaulle · Av des Champs-Elysées · Place de la Concorde · Quai des Tuileries · Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel · R de Rohan · Avenue de l'Opera · Pl de l'Opéra · Fromental 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 · Place du Tertre · R Ste-Eleuthère · R Azais · Pl du Parvis du Sacré Cœur

Using Google maps, one website illustrates the route while the video plays.

Criticism

If the movie was indeed filmed as Lelouch claims, it might indicate a criminally reckless disregard for the life and safety of pedestrians and motorists. Lelouch was arrested after the film's first showing, but later released with no charges.

The distribution of the movie could also be viewed as encouraging thrill-seekers to speed and disregard traffic laws (including red lights), again because of the claim by Lelouch that the movie portrays real live action (and thus is replicable by thrill-seekers), as opposed to cinematographic special effects.

Comments attributed to Lelouch indicate that he acknowledges the moral outrage over his method of shooting this movie as valid. He also states that he was prepared to take the risks in making the movie, but that he however was also ready to drop it in case he would have come across any unconsiderate risk (pedestrian, hurdle, etc.).

Legacy

Films that were influenced by C'etait un rendez-vous include:

Getaway in Stockholm
Ghost Rider
Ronin (stunts)
The Run - Nissan Z Demo Tape. Filmed on closed streets in Prague, Czech Republic. The video seems to be a clear imitation, including the birds on the roadway, pedestrians and the rendezvous at the end.

The band Snow Patrol used the film as the video for their single "Open Your Eyes" from their fourth album Eyes Open.

External links