réalisé sans aucun trucage ni accéléré

which usually translates to "made without special effects or fast motion"
but in this case means "completely and totally insane"

this film has been an underground classic since it premiered in 1976. It's a 9-minute high-speed race through Paris, shot in one uninterrupted forward-facing shot. made with no permits, no streets blocked off, many red lights ignored, a few one way streets driven up the wrong way, and a some pedestrian and automotive near-misses, this is Claude Lelouch's finest hour (yes, that Claude Lelouch). he was arrested after the first screening. he claimed he had hired a Formula 1 driver for the film, but would never release the name of the driver. the audio on the film is of a Ferrari engine, and based on the soundtrack fans have speculated that the car was a Ferrari 275GTB. rumors abound that he's hitting speeds of 140 MPH on the residential streets of Paris. I can't say whether this was intended as an art-film attack on the synthetic Hollywood action of, say, Bullitt, but it comes off as one. enjoy Claude Lelouch's "C'était Un Rendezvous":












now that you've seen it you should know: Claude himself was the driver. The car was his Mercedes. he probably never went faster than 85 or 90 mph. but... WOW.

If YouTube's not enough for you, please go buy the dvd: