C'etait un Rendezvous
Nov. 18th, 2005 10:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greatbear(Yet another in a series called "This Isn't Me Driving, But I Sure Wish It Was")
What follows is an underground classic among driving enthusiasts. Take one Ferrari 275GTB, an early August morning in Paris, an unnamed F-1 race car driver, and a new-for-it's-time (1976) gyroscopic mount and camera and combine. What you have are the perfect ingredients for an amazing, bumper's-eye view of French cobblestone streets and scenery, bewildered motorists, frightened pigeons, shocked bystanders as well as the soundtrack of the Ferrari's sweet music and screeching tires greeting the day at speeds over 130mph. While those who know me well are certainly aware of my need for speed (rarely a day passes where I dont exceed 90mph for at least a short distance to sate my addiction), a run like this one would alas only be a dream for me. Mainly because I hate getting up early.
Without further adieu, C'etait un Rendezvous.
(35MB Quicktime Movie file)
C'etait un Rendezvous is the creation of the French filmmaker Claude Lelouch in 1976. Using a Ferrari 275 GTB early one August morning, Lelouch attached a camera to the bumper of the car and sped through the streets of Paris. He gave the driver a set route from Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur, which is straight through the heart of Paris. The driver is still unknown to this day, because Lelouch was never able to obtain a permit to close the streets. The driver, who Lelouch told officials was an F1 racer, went over the speed limit and blew off many red lights. When this film was first shown, Lelouch was arrested, and because of this, the footage has spent many years underground before it began to resurface on DVD a few years ago. Lelouch used a new technology of the time, a gyro stabilized camera mount, in order to mount the camera on the car. The problem with this is that the technology of the time only allowed for a ten minute film with this mount. Lelouch told his driver to rush because of this time limit, and the video itself is only about nine minutes.
This, as well as an interesting modern-day analysis of average and peak speeds in this movie, as well as several other well-known "car films" can be found at The Physics Factbook. Interesting reading.
I have the urge to go for a drive now...
What follows is an underground classic among driving enthusiasts. Take one Ferrari 275GTB, an early August morning in Paris, an unnamed F-1 race car driver, and a new-for-it's-time (1976) gyroscopic mount and camera and combine. What you have are the perfect ingredients for an amazing, bumper's-eye view of French cobblestone streets and scenery, bewildered motorists, frightened pigeons, shocked bystanders as well as the soundtrack of the Ferrari's sweet music and screeching tires greeting the day at speeds over 130mph. While those who know me well are certainly aware of my need for speed (rarely a day passes where I dont exceed 90mph for at least a short distance to sate my addiction), a run like this one would alas only be a dream for me. Mainly because I hate getting up early.
Without further adieu, C'etait un Rendezvous.
(35MB Quicktime Movie file)
C'etait un Rendezvous is the creation of the French filmmaker Claude Lelouch in 1976. Using a Ferrari 275 GTB early one August morning, Lelouch attached a camera to the bumper of the car and sped through the streets of Paris. He gave the driver a set route from Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur, which is straight through the heart of Paris. The driver is still unknown to this day, because Lelouch was never able to obtain a permit to close the streets. The driver, who Lelouch told officials was an F1 racer, went over the speed limit and blew off many red lights. When this film was first shown, Lelouch was arrested, and because of this, the footage has spent many years underground before it began to resurface on DVD a few years ago. Lelouch used a new technology of the time, a gyro stabilized camera mount, in order to mount the camera on the car. The problem with this is that the technology of the time only allowed for a ten minute film with this mount. Lelouch told his driver to rush because of this time limit, and the video itself is only about nine minutes.
This, as well as an interesting modern-day analysis of average and peak speeds in this movie, as well as several other well-known "car films" can be found at The Physics Factbook. Interesting reading.
I have the urge to go for a drive now...
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no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 04:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 04:59 am (UTC)I saw this for the first time ever a couple years ago.
Big screen TV and really loud McIntosh powered floor speakers.
I can remember the anxious rush welling in my chest as he worked his way deeper into the city.
I saw that this has been remastered for DVD. It is high on my wish list.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-19 06:40 am (UTC)Ever heard the song "Need For Speed" by The Regulators? :)