Le Grand Rendez-Vous

It's easy to understand the low rating on this short if considering the people who watched the original film, made by Claude Lelouch in 1976 while racing his car through the streets of Paris in one long continuous shot. Those who haven't seen it might not find anything so spectacular as well. But it has its triumphs, some beauty and reasons for enjoyment, though it'll never reach the level of greatness that other short had. Bottom of line: less is (and was) more.

Lelouch recreates a similar concept of a long shot of a driving car moving through a nice place. The spectacle comes from F1 driver Charles Leclerc racing a potent Ferrari through the amazing streets Monaco, during the Covid pandemic lockdown of the city. A nice view of everything, a great capturing of the speed that feels as if seeing something going on lightspeed (if it was possible to record such a thing).

It's quite alright but the difference from the classic (besides the place setting) comes from the use of a musical score (and not just the motor running); the presence of Prince Albert and a florist firl (Rebecca Blanc-Lelouch) as if some sort of plot would come out to give a reasoning for the project, and they ride with Leclerc; and it's not a single shot as the images are edited showing the view from the outside of the car, along with images from inside the car, as opposed with the camera showing just the streets and places where Lelouch was driving in the 1970's. With those distractions the experience gets reduced to a commercial of Ferrari rather than an exciting experience of feeling the speed.

I enjoyed it a lot, though not as much as the original film (best known to current audiences as the Snow Patrol clip for "Open Your Eyes" where they just included the music on those images). 7/10.