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C'était un rendez-vous
Promotional poster for DVD release.
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.

Contents 1 Exposition 2 Production 3 Route 4 Criticism 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Exposition

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, center lines are crossed, the car drives on the 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 a curb on Montmartre, with the famous Sacré Cœur Basilica 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 400 foot 35mm film reel, and filmed from a (supposedly) gyro-stabilised camera mounted on the bumper of a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9.^{[citation needed]} A photo has surfaced that seems to reveal an Eclair cam-flex 35mm camera with a wide angle lens, and a typical "speed rail" hard mount - no gyros - on a 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 Ferrari 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, with a walkie talkie, close to the Louvre palace at the only blind junction (archway) to assist the driver,^[4] however Lelouch has revealed that the radios failed, and if the assistant had tried to warn him of a pedestrian the message would not have been received.

Due to the increasing demand and the limited distribution of original tapes,^{[citation needed]} the film has recently^[when?] been re-mastered from the 35 mm negative and released on DVD.^[5]

In 2007 part of the movie was used for Snow Patrol's Open Your Eyes music video.

[edit] Route

The route was as follows: Bd Périphérique (exits at Porte Dauphine) · 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'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 · Pl du Tertre · R Ste-Eleuthère · R Azais · Pl du Parvis du Sacré Cœur. ^[6]

[edit] Criticism

Comments attributed to Lelouch indicate that he acknowledges the moral outrage over his method of shooting this film as valid.^{[citation needed]} He also states that he was prepared to take the risks in making the film, but that he however was also ready to drop it if he came across any unexpected risk (pedestrian, hurdle, etc.).

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Spirit Level Film
• Original producers website
• DVD site
• C'était un rendez-vous at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Films directed by Claude Lelouch 1960s Le propre de l'homme (1960) · In the Affirmative (1962) · La femme spectacle (1963) · 24 heures d'amant (1964) · ...pour un maillot jaune (1965) · Les grands moments (1965) · Une fille et des fusils (1965) · A Man and a Woman (1966) · Live for Life (1967) · 13 jours en France (1968) · A Man I Like (1969) · Life Love Death (1969) 1970s Le voyou (1970) · Smic Smac Smoc (1971) · L'aventure c'est l'aventure (1972) · La bonne année (1973) · And Now My Love (1974) · Mariage (1974) · Cat and Mouse (1975) · C'était un rendez-vous (1976) · The Good and the Bad (1976) · If I Had to Do It All Over Again (1976) · Another Man, Another Chance (1977) · Robert et Robert (1978) · Us Two (1979) 1980s The Ones and the Others (1981) · Edith and Marcel (1983) · Long Live Life (1984) · Partir, revenir (1985) · Attention bandits! (1986) · A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later (1986) · Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté (1988) 1990s There Were Days... and Moons (1990) · The Beautiful Story (1992) · All That... for This?! (1993) · Les Misérables (1995) · Men, Women: A User's Manual (1996) · Chance or Coincidence (1998) · One 4 All (1999) 2000s And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen (2002) · Les parisiens (2004) · Le courage d'aimer (2005) · Crossed Tracks (2007) 2010s Ces amours-là (2010)