It is the kind of film that would not be made now. The fact it ever was is a miracle. The Sunday in Hell refers to the 'Hell of the North', Paris Roubaix, a shockingly hard bike race in northern France ridden over (now deliberately) poorly maintained cobbled roads. It has been going for well over 100 years and owes its name to the edition just after WW1.
The race never went through the prettiest part of France. Roubaix is a industrial place. Many of the more famous bike races have beautiful and stunning landscapes as their amphitheatre. But when people came to see the race after the Great War they were shocked by the grim war scared landscape. And in the culture and names associated with the race there is something of this still there. The Road of Prayers, Abattoir Road, The Arenburg Forest. And the cobbled roads, farm tracks from long ago. The riders, always exhausted, in the rain spattered with in mud, bloodied from crashes. And in the dry, dust caking on their faces with the sweat.
I had never heard of the place or the race until 10 years ago, when late one evening only half interested at the start I watched a Sunday in Hell. Filmed in the early 70's nobody would make a film like it now. Modern documentaries start with a bang, and hammer home what the viewer has been told and what the viewer will learn. In modern sports coverage there is a near hysteria over the slightest moment of drama. this is different. It starts with the key rivals in the race, each preparing, Merkyx with his mechanic, DeVlaminick at Breakfast, eating a steak, shaving his legs.
That is another strange thing about the race. It is in France but loved even more by the Belgians. Slowly it builds, a voice over sparse and calm sharing just enough information. It begins to gather pace, steady but relentless acceleration to the point when the riders arrive for their finale at the Roubaix velodrome and the hammer blow of that finale I was on the edge of my seat. Then down, to the showers under the stadium, where the riders bathed together, winners laughing losers angry and arguing amongst to grey concrete shower stalls.
Even if you are not a bike race fan, if you have Eurosport, turn on at around 3 on Sunday and take a peak, but if you are willing to give 11/2 hours a special film get the DVD of A Sunday in Hell.
The race never went through the prettiest part of France. Roubaix is a industrial place. Many of the more famous bike races have beautiful and stunning landscapes as their amphitheatre. But when people came to see the race after the Great War they were shocked by the grim war scared landscape. And in the culture and names associated with the race there is something of this still there. The Road of Prayers, Abattoir Road, The Arenburg Forest. And the cobbled roads, farm tracks from long ago. The riders, always exhausted, in the rain spattered with in mud, bloodied from crashes. And in the dry, dust caking on their faces with the sweat.
I had never heard of the place or the race until 10 years ago, when late one evening only half interested at the start I watched a Sunday in Hell. Filmed in the early 70's nobody would make a film like it now. Modern documentaries start with a bang, and hammer home what the viewer has been told and what the viewer will learn. In modern sports coverage there is a near hysteria over the slightest moment of drama. this is different. It starts with the key rivals in the race, each preparing, Merkyx with his mechanic, DeVlaminick at Breakfast, eating a steak, shaving his legs.
That is another strange thing about the race. It is in France but loved even more by the Belgians. Slowly it builds, a voice over sparse and calm sharing just enough information. It begins to gather pace, steady but relentless acceleration to the point when the riders arrive for their finale at the Roubaix velodrome and the hammer blow of that finale I was on the edge of my seat. Then down, to the showers under the stadium, where the riders bathed together, winners laughing losers angry and arguing amongst to grey concrete shower stalls.
Even if you are not a bike race fan, if you have Eurosport, turn on at around 3 on Sunday and take a peak, but if you are willing to give 11/2 hours a special film get the DVD of A Sunday in Hell.
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