Howling through the streets, from the point of view of an anonymous driver, with only a revving car engine as a soundtrack, the film C'était un rendez-vous is shot in one thrillingly long single take. A short made in 1976 by Claude Lelouch in cinéma vérité style, the feat is common today on youtube, often duplicated by like minded speed junkies from the rice-rocket racing set to Ghostrider fans. Since these clips are not so much about destinations as riding, adrenaline freaks and shop heads alike are thrilled to watch like rebels without causes. Such adrenaline usually channels back into man-machine territory, the handicam shaking of a tricked out GTI racing to nowhere standing in for an honest testament to a violent testosterone urge of competition.

In contrast, Lelouche's Truth about the motorway is revealed as something more akin to love and a graceful mastery of time and place. The director's technical skill, his eye for the beauty of the Parisian city, and the barest wisp of a plot make Rendezous, slight though the film is, more than just a throwaway rush. Instead, Rendezvous is a pheremonal rather than a glandular delight of movement, a joy likened inextricably to the seductiveness of romantic danger. Such an affair turns the familiar into an ordeal or a reckless journey into impulsive destiny, but foremost, getting there is as beautiful a moment as having finally arrived.