En forårsdag i Helvede (1977)

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 ... See full summary »

Director:

Jørgen Leth

Writer:

Jørgen Leth

Stars:

David Saunders, Roger De Vlaeminck, Marc Demeyer

Cast

Credited cast:
David Saunders	...	Narrator
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roger De Vlaeminck	...	Himself
Marc Demeyer	...	Himself
Freddy Maertens	...	Himself
Eddy Merckx	...	Himself
Ole Ritter	...	Himself

Storyline

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 - 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 prominent cyclists to the final outcome on the Roubaix cycle track - followed by the filthy riders taking their showers. There is also an eye for life among the spectators and the media event as such. The film alternates among different kinds of shot with a view to establishing the most suitable view of the narrative: shots from motorcycles, which are able to convey the motion of the race and provide close ups of the riders in the style of television cycle race reporting; fixed cameras stationed at strategically important points along the route, where viewers can watch riders passing in real time and thus gain a clear overview ...

---

Plot Keywords:

bicycle | roubaix flanders | bicycle race | 

---

Genres:

Documentary | Sport

---

Details

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

25 February 1977 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

A Sunday Day in Hell

Company Credits

Production Co:

Steen Herdel Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jørgen Leth himself regards this as a very insignificant film in his filmography.

---

Connections

Featured in Gintberg på kanten: Gug (2015)

User Reviews

See it, enjoy it, spread the word

It has all the necessary elements to be a good documentary. All but the sound mixing. Which is not that bad but the transition and mixing is sometimes....just annoying. During this documentary we see from a helicopter view the riders as they pass along the crowd with some Gregorian type of chanting in the background...no cycling noises no cars no nothing besides some slumber kind of classical music...Guess that's the 70s. And the slow motion to epitomize the heroic struggle not helping either. We want to see the rush, the unforgiving cruelty of the race. The narration is OK, very strict about what's happening and that's good. Very realistic compared to other documentaries depicting the same era, the announcer at the start is actually the one present at the Tour nowadays, if I'm not mistaken...a little older maybe :)A few minutes with no subtitles, nothing disturbing the overall comprehension of the situation. All in all, a catchy movie this one, with so much resemblance with the present day races in France, not surprisingly. If we take away the elements that were put in the movie to make it a documentary, it's if you are there watching. And that's all you need.