Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

A Sunday in Hell

Original title: En forårsdag i Helvede
  • 19771977
  • 1h 51m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
846
YOUR RATING
A Sunday in Hell (1977)
DocumentarySport
The film follows the French Paris-Roubaix spring classic, notorious for the hellish paves or cobbled roads of the north "which are no longer used for traffic but only for transporting cattle... Read allThe film follows the French Paris-Roubaix spring classic, notorious for the hellish paves or cobbled roads of the north "which are no longer used for traffic but only for transporting cattle - and for cycle races". We are there from the dawn preparations and rituals on the outski... Read allThe film follows the French Paris-Roubaix spring classic, notorious for the hellish paves or cobbled roads of the north "which are no longer used for traffic but only for transporting cattle - and for cycle races". We are there from the dawn preparations and rituals on the outskirts of Paris and through the rigours of the race with special focus on a number of promine... Read all
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
846
YOUR RATING
    • Jørgen Leth
    • Jørgen Leth
  • Stars
    • David Saunders
    • Roger De Vlaeminck
    • Marc Demeyer
    • Jørgen Leth
    • Jørgen Leth
  • Stars
    • David Saunders
    • Roger De Vlaeminck
    • Marc Demeyer
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 6User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    A Sunday in Hell (1977)
    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    David Saunders
    • Narrator
    Roger De Vlaeminck
    • Self
    Marc Demeyer
    • Self
    Freddy Maertens
    • Self
    Eddy Merckx
    Eddy Merckx
    • Self
    Ole Ritter
    • Self
      • Jørgen Leth
      • Jørgen Leth
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Stjernerne og vandbærerne
    7.6
    Stjernerne og vandbærerne
    Pelota
    7.3
    Pelota
    Den umulige time
    7.2
    Den umulige time
    Det perfekte menneske
    7.2
    Det perfekte menneske
    I Walk
    6.5
    I Walk
    Michael Laudrup - en fodboldspiller
    6.7
    Michael Laudrup - en fodboldspiller
    Kandis for livet
    7.3
    Kandis for livet
    Taipei Story
    7.6
    Taipei Story
    Music for Black Pigeons
    8.4
    Music for Black Pigeons
    Pelota II
    7.9
    Pelota II
    This Is Spinal Tap
    7.9
    This Is Spinal Tap
    Teorema
    7.1
    Teorema

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Jørgen Leth himself regards this as a very insignificant film in his filmography.
    • Connections
      Featured in Gintberg på kanten: Gug (2015)

    User reviews6

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Interesting but never more than that and most likely not for the casual viewer
    Starting with the preparation needed by the teams and cyclists prior to the event, this film follows one of the oldest and most famous one day classic bike races the Paris-Roubaix. Mixing country roads with more urban settings, the race is a challenging event that goes across cobbled roads and increasingly tough terrain. We watch the race to see the field gradually weeded down to the winners and the fate of the losers and the support riders.

    The Paris-Roubaix is a great race we are told, but you wouldn't necessarily know it from this film which, although interesting, certainly doesn't inflame the passions in the casual viewer. I'm not a fan or even a follower of cycling so I suspect that this film was not aimed at me and fans of this sport can probably ignore many of my criticisms because they may not be problems for everyone. In essence the film does a good job of just showing the race from the inside – the tactics, the falls, the challenges but it does it all in a very cold, mechanical fashion that keeps it "interesting" but never more than that. The delivery doesn't help; the version I saw had English narration but no subtitles when any one else is speaking (directly to camera or not). This stopped me getting any insight from the people involved or even get to know them as people enough to care about the outcome of the race.

    The narration is good but it doesn't help the film be more than "interesting". The English narration is sparse and rather detached from the action; it is better than an OTT commentator type but it does give you the feeling that the action is as ordinary as his consistent tone of voice suggests. The riders are the teams lack character (an important thing in sportsmen) but this may be down to me not being able to understand anything they said – perhaps those familiar with the riders will be more taken by them than I was.

    Overall this is an interesting film that looks at the events during the race with a detached but slightly curious air that tended to keep me interested. However the lack of flair, passion or real insight was a problem and I didn't think it even got past this. Although the narration was quite good, the lack of subtitles took away from the riders etc and many viewers might feel (like I did) that the inability to understand the asides and interviews mean that you'll be missing out on some of the best bits of the film.
    helpful•7
    13
    • bob the moo
    • Aug 11, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 25, 1977 (Denmark)
      • Denmark
      • Danish
    • Also known as
    • Production company
      • Steen Herdel Filmproduktion
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 51 minutes
      • Mono

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    A Sunday in Hell (1977)
    Top Gap
    What is the English language plot outline for A Sunday in Hell (1977)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.