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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "La faille" or "Weak Spot" or "La smagliatura" or "Der dritte Grad")

 

Directed by Peter Fleischmann
France / Italy / Germany 1975

 

Ugo Tognazzi (La grande bouffe) is an innocent playboy holiday rep in Greece who is picked up by two secret agents (Michel Piccoli, Le Mépris and Mario Adorf, The Italian Connection). Suspected of being part of an underground resistance, he is to be transported by the agents to Athens where he will be interrogated by superior officers. Their journey is the start of a cat-and-mouse game that beautifully plays on Tognazzi’s screen persona with the thrilling tension of Costa-Gavras’ Z. Newly restored in 4K by Studio Canal, Peter Fleischmann’s paranoid thriller is made available on Blu-ray for the first time.

***

At its heart, the story follows a seemingly ordinary man thrust into a nightmare of accusations and captivity. Two officers transport him on an increasingly uncertain journey, and the dynamic between the three characters becomes a focal point. The protagonist's quiet resilience contrasts with the officers' volatile mix of hostility. Their conversations and power plays create a layered exploration of trust, manipulation, and survival under a system built on fear.

Excerpt from Overly Honest Reviews located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 18th, 1975

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Review: Radiance Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:

Distribution Radiance Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:51:12.207        
Video

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 42,622,657,106 bytes

Feature: 34,796,848,512 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.29 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

LPCM Audio French 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -30dB

Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Radiance Films

 

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 42,622,657,106 bytes

Feature: 34,796,848,512 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.29 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Audio commentary by critic Travis Woods (2024)
• Archival TV interview with Michel Piccoli discussing Weak Spot (1975, 4:52)
• Soundtrack expert Lovely Jon discusses the Ennio Morricone score (2024, 26:20)
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Kat Ellinger. Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings


Blu-ray Release Date: January 27th, 2025

Transparent Blu-ray Case inside sleeve

Chapters 12

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Radiance Films Blu-ray (January 2025): Radiance Films have transferred Peter Fleischmann's Weak Spot to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New 4K restoration from the original negative by Studio Canal". The 1080P image is housed on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. The HD presentation is consistent and clean with occasional depth. Colors are un-embellished but the film's impact is more dependant on the dialogue than the visuals. Like the vast majority of Radiance transfers this is adept and, presumably, theatrically accurate.

NOTE: We have added 46 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Radiance Films linear PCM 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original French language. Weak Spot has few aggressive moments that come through with unremarkable depth, The audio is notable for the score by the great Ennio Morricone (The Cold Eyes of Fear, Grand Slam, Revolver, The Great Silence, Who Saw Her Die?, Bluebeard, The Black Belly of the Tarantula, The Fifth Cord, Luna, Danger Diabolik, Two Mules For Sister Sara, A Bullet for the General, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, The French Conspiracy, U Turn, Stay As You Are etc. etc.) sounding clean with burgeoning tension, supporting a sense of uneasiness. Radiance Films offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Radiance Films Blu-ray offers a new commentary by critic Travis Woods who makes an adept comparison to the present (Summer 2024.) He discusses Weak Spot as a political paranoia thriller, an inquiry into masculinity, and the book on which it is based; The Flaw. He makes many excellent observations. In a 5-minute archival interview taken from a 1975 edition of Monsieur Cinéma, Michel Piccoli discusses his work on Weak Spot, both as star and Producer. Plus for over 25-minutres soundtrack expert Lovely Jon dissects the memorable Ennio Morricone score for Weak Spot, analyzing the themes and motifs present in the music, profiling the session players who worked on it, and exploring Morricone's incredibly prolific late 70s period. It was recorded exclusively for Radiance in August 2024. The package has a reversible sleeve (see below) featuring designs based on original posters and a limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Kat Ellinger (All The Colours Of Sergio Martino.)

Peter Fleischmann's Weak Spot echoes Kafka's The Trial, some of the Czech New Wave (Larks on a String,) Gilliam's Brazil or Orwell's 1984. There are themes of unjust oppression, deserved paranoia, trust, manipulation, psychological pressure, inhumanity, suffocating bureaucracy - in an unspecified totalitarian state (filmed in Greece.) Depending on how you look at it, Weak Spot is part dark, sardonic, comedy / part morose despondent tragedy. Part thriller - part political satire. It's a thought-provoking film with pervasive authoritarianism as a central focus. The Radiance Blu-ray is another winner for the company. Weak Spot deserves a new appraisal and audience. The package has a revealing commentary, interview, analysis of the Morricone score, booklet and more. Certainly recommended to any world cinephiles. 

Gary Tooze

 


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Distribution Radiance Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray


 


 

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