Product Description

This is possibly the greatest nine minutes ever captured on film! Climb aboard with Claude lelouch as he roars through Paris in the early morning at incredible speed! This is a truly amazing dvd.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14839 in DVD
• Published on: 2004
• Released on: 2003-02-20
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Formats: Color, Digital Sound, Dolby, Full length, Restored, NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 9 minutes

Customer Reviews

Yes, the DVD is NTSC (Region 0) and widescreen too!
I just picked up the DVD through the rendezvousdvd.com website, and can confirm it plays just fine on United States NTSC DVD players. The DVD cost me about 25 United States dollars, including shipping from Great Britain, and arrived about a week after I ordered it. The picture quality is really only about VHS level. But considering it was filmed very early in the morning (note all the garbage trucks!) and the camera was car-mounted, I'm not sure the original film was exactly reference quality. The DVD is widescreen and in color, but it is not anamorphic. The sound is great - very crisp and clean. If, after watching this movie, you don't want to hop in a sports car and take off, there's something wrong with you! On a dollars per minute basis, this may be one of the most expensive DVDs available, but it's worth every penny!

9 Minutes of Mayhem
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. The film was limited for technical reasons to 10 minutes; the course was from Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit.
The driver completed the course in about 9 minutes, reaching nearly 140 MPH in some stretches. The footage reveals him running real red lights, nearly hitting real pedestrians, and driving the wrong way up real one-way streets.

Upon showing the film in public for the first time, Lelouch was arrested. He has never revealed the identity of the driver, and the film went underground until this DVD release.

Mind-boggling. Gobsmacking. Unbelievable
I've not seen the video, but nearly 30 years ago I saw the film on 35mm, and it was so intense, that the memory of it has never left me. It's like watching Leo Kottke in full flight on his 12-string; you see it, you hear it, but nonetheless your mind refuses to accept that it's possible.

Buy it.

Buy it now.

And while you wait for it to arrive, practice holding your breath for 9 minutes, as you'll need that ability.....