It’s Grand Prix weekend and in the early morning of Sunday something very special is taking place on the Monaco Grand Prix track with Charles LeClerc in a Ferrari.
Do you remember the famous 8 minute cult movie “C’etait un rendez-vous “ with a Mercedes dubbed with a Ferrari soundtrack driven and directed by Claude Lelouch. There is going to be a rare type of sequel but featuring Monaco this time instead of Paris and featuring a real Ferrari. At the wheel instead of Lelouch will be Formula1 racing ace Charles LeClerc. Lelouch, who was hidden by his mother from the Gestapo as a child in movie theatres, will this time restrict his own genius for the camera.
If you are on a well-positioned balcony and awake between 6.45 and 9.30 am this Sunday morning you may just see Charles LeClerc flashing by in the Ferrari SF 90. The short film “Le Grand Rendez-Vous” is reported to have its epic finale in Casino Square but you might catch a glimpse of action in the Louis II tunnel, at passage Sainte Devote, Avenue des Spélugues, Route de la Piscine and near Rascasse, Quai des Etats Unis, Avenue d’Ostende, Boulevards Albert I and Louis II or anywhere on the Grand Prix Route.
Controversial at the time, Lelouch was reportedly rumoured arrested by the police for endangering the public for racing around Paris’ landmarks without advance permission. The result is a famed classic of reality cinema.
Lelouch seems to have a golden touch, he also scored a great hit with the theme song for the film A Man and a Woman, collaborating with with composer Francis Lai – more than 300 versions of the song are said to exist.
Better that Charles is at the wheel in Monte Carlo than Claude who drove his own car himself in the original and claimed that the top speed achieved was around 200 km/h in Paris’ 1.3 km avenue Foch. Lelouch also reportedly claimed that the soundtrack was dubbed with the sound of Lelouch’s own Ferrari 275GTB, which has the same number of gears and a V-12 sound that is uniquely distinct from that of any V8, as well as the 6.9 litre V8 of the Mercedes camera car.
The other twist in the original is the embrace between Lelouchand a blonde at the end of the movie. This was likely Lelouch’sgirlfriend Gunilla Friden. He is said to have told her he’d arrive within ten minutes at the Sacré-Cœur and asked her to appear when he screamed to a halt there.
Will a scene like this be repeated in the Charles LeClerc sequel at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix track – we will have to wait and see!
If you haven’t seen the original here is a “well-travelled” description of it:
The eight-minute drive through Paris at 5.30 am is dubbed by sounds of a high-revving engine, gear changes and squealing tyres. It begins in the famous tunnel of the Paris Périphérique at Porte Dauphine. Famous landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe, Opéra Garnier, and Place de la Concorde with its obelisk are featured, as well as the Champs-Élysées. Pedestrians are passed, pigeons sent flying – and attracting the police’s attention later, red lights are ignored, one-way streets are driven up the wrong way, centre lines are crossed, and the car even drives on the sidewalk to avoid a rubbish lorry.
It will surely be safer this time around with Charles at the wheel on the iconic Monaco Grand Prix track.
Another smash hit in the making for Lelouch, starring LeClercand a Ferrari on the iconic Monaco Grand Prix track? He certainly has an instinct for success.
