Friday, March 20, 2009

C'etait un rendez-vous

"It's a date."  I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted any car-related stuff.  It must be the weather.  You'll soon enough realize the extent of my car nuttery.  Cheers to my brother for putting me on to this great video.  This is the official promo description:  

"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.

No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit."

Something seemed a little off between the sound and the sense of speed in the video.  Neither seemed to match with the description.  Yes, it sounded like a Ferrari GTB, but the shifting points and the speed of the engine didn't seem to mesh.  I consider myself a pretty good driver with experience on a race track and the lines that the car was taking were less than ideal.  The car control seemed a little sloppy in the slow parts as well.  I didn't think much of this until I did a little more research.

In the little bit of research I did on this video, the consensus seems to be that neither a Ferrari or an F1 driver were actually used.  Instead, the more likely explanation that coincides with my initial suspicions was that Claude Lelouch drove his automatic Mercedes and later dubbed over with the Ferrari sounds.  This also verifies the sense of speed, or lack thereof.

What's important, however, is not whether how the film was promoted was true or not.  It's purpose rests not in automotive stardom, but rather in the very unique and advanced piece of filmmaking that it is.  I don't care if an Astrovan was piloted through Paris by my grandma.  This film is absolutely thrilling!



Claude Lelouch's Rendezvous... from Dat on Vimeo.

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