1976 ‘Mannen på taket’ Directed by Bo Widerberg
Stockholm policeman Martin Beck is called in to investigate the murder of a fellow officer. Beck and his partner, Einar Ronn, soon discover that the murdered policeman was well known to his colleagues for his excessive brutality, though his misdeeds were never reported to higher authorities. As they pursue their investigation, a sniper climbs to a roof in downtown Stockholm and starts firing at every uniformed officer he sees.
Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt Sven Wollter Thomas Hellberg Håkan Serner Folke Hjort Ingvar Hirdwall Bellan Roos Gus Dahlström Harald Hamrell Birgitta Valberg Carl-Axel Heiknert Torgny Anderberg Gunnel Wadner Eva Remaeus Johan Widerberg Karin Bergstrand Bo Holmström Michaela Jolin Dan Lindhe Jan Sandquist Lars Säfström Johan Thorén Torbjörn Tännsjö Bo Widerberg Nina Widerberg
The Man on the Roof, Un flic sur le toit, Manden på taget, Komisario Beck tähtäimessä, El hombre en el tajedo, De verschrikkelijke man uit Säffle, L'uomo sul tetto, Beck - Manden på taget, Muž na střeše, Manden På Taget, Der Mann auf dem Dach, Un hombre en el tejado, Gyilkos a tetőn, 지붕 위의 사나이, Człowiek Na Dachu, Человек на крыше, 满城风雨
Sweden15
Sweden15
Sweden15
Netherlands16
Sweden15
Netherlands
Sweden
Few films have been as instrumental in forming my love of cinema as Mannen på taket. I was far too young to see it when it premiered in 1976 but I’ve got vivid memories of being fascinated by the crashed helicopter on top of the marquee at the cinema Spegeln. Photo here: tinyurl.com/ocf5okw
I first saw it in 1984 when it was broadcast on Swedish tv. My parents wouldn’t let me see the first five minutes and I can certainly understand why (the opening murder is almost giallo-like in its brutality), but I still remember being thrilled that I finally got a chance to see (almost all) of it.
I’ve watched it several times since and it still holds up…
the hospital murder scene is most likely the most technically interesting and simply beautiful on-screen killing i’ve ever seen. and the helicopter scene. and the child talking to a barely alive man who’s just been shot while there’s a sniper on the roof. everything was just right
"Man on the Roof" is a 1976 Swedish crime thriller directed by Bo Widerberg. This is my first presented Widerberg that I have been able to watch, so understandably as I watch more in the future, I'll find further connective nuances as I can already tell just from this venture gathered that he has an absolute distinctive style. "Man on the Roof" is about as procedural as you can get, but within that action it showcases how life upon situation can spur out of control and into properties of insanity. In the naturality of things, the film sets the speed of the film par for the course of an actual investigation of sorts, or at least as closely as can…
If you like gritty seventies crime flicks with a procedural touch, this is the film for you. A policeman is butchered in a hospital. With a bayonet. A nasty, bloody affair. Turns out, he wasn't such a fine cop and cops have enemies. Martin Beck is on the case. Starts off as, what the French would call, a policier. Slow paced, methodical and meticulous with an eye for characters. No shiny actors here, no, real, unpolished men with faces that show years of raw police work. About halfway through you might think, hmm, what's the title all about?
Well, wait for it. There will be a man on the roof and when that happens the movie blows wide open with…
I already watched this two months ago, but they were screening it at a local cinema for one day, so I couldn't help but see it again on the big screen.
What made this viewing even more special was that my mom joined me, because she first watched the film when it came out in '76, as it was even the first "R rated" (or kid forbidden as we say in Sweden) film she saw. Both of us agreed that it held up remarkably well, where even though we had already seen it and knew what was going to happen, the suspense was still immeasurable.
My appreciation for this film just keeps growing. There's a reason they chose this out…
Crime thriller from Bo Widerberg, based on the novel; 'The Abominable Man'. Inspectors ‘Martin Beck’ and ‘Einar Ronn’ investigate the brutal stabbing of shady officer ‘Nyman’. The investigation leads to troubled former officer ‘Eriksson’, who has savagely attacked Nyman out of revenge. Eriksson takes to the roof of his apartment building and begins sniping at any police officers in sight. A tense and slow-moving police prodedrual. Stylistically raw, gritty and naturalistic - shaping an air of dread. Well written, well directed and well edited. Exploring themes such as revenge, meticulous investigation, violence, madness, chaos. A character-driven piece for the most part, the machinations of the investigation neatly builds towards its stunning and violent conclusion. The muted / naturalistic performances are…
The title's a spoiler. I always think it's brilliant when films do that.
I won't lie. I started watching this last night but fell asleep. Not because it was boring, but more to do with the fact that I just think I'm getting old and need a nap every day. For fuck's sake. I fell asleep during Le Cercle Rouge the other night as well and had to rewind it to the bit where I thought I fell asleep.
The funny thing is that I fell asleep at precisely the moment that The Man On The Roof hits its most noted section - the last half an hour. Prior to those happenings, this is a slow-moving…
Sad to learn that Thomas Hellberg, who played Gunvald Larsson here, died in January of this year aged 81. It's a good performance even though physically he doesn't match up to the more imposing figure Larsson is in the novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. Sven Wolter and (especially) Håkan Serner are perfect though as Kollberg and Ronn respectively and, whilst I have often struggled to shake the mind's-eye image of a Scandinavian Walter Matthau for Beck (thanks to the Hollywood adaptation of The Laughing Policeman) Carl-Gustaf Linstedt does a great job; one that is all the more remarkable when you consider he was a comedian rather than a dramatic actor.
Looking back on my LB activity, it's…
The Swedish Connection.
We see Stockholm captured to an almost documentary-like degree, from the filthiest of crevices to the grandest cityscapes, where even the most suspenseful of situations call for witty humor and some good ol' fika.
Even more radical when you consider the encompassing anti-cop attitude and all those nail-biting stunts that nowadays would've most likely been replaced by CGI.
Sweden may keep trying to recreate this gritty magic with countless sequels in the long-running Beck franchise, but this single-handedly raised the bar all the way up to the roof.
79/100
Title is basically a spoiler, a man does get on the roof.
It's a gritty and realistic police procedural/thriller. It has some interesting things on police brutality, corruption, cop culture like internal cover-ups etc. It's got an extremely no nonsense, nothing fancy style. Just gets in, does its job and gets out.
Started this stoned at midnight which was a bad idea so I had to abort about 20 minutes in (see Grandma’s Boy review for how that night went) and restarted this morning. Strong Giallo feel to the opening. The murder that kicks the whole thing off, although not especially graphic, is fairly disturbing. A quick bayonet through the mouth with some very squishy foley work, pretty effective. Then we settle into a downbeat police procedural ripped right out of the 70’s American crime film playbook. The exact same conversation the USA is collectively having about cops right now is being had here. Can cops abuse their position indefinitely without repercussions? Are they untouchable? Is this kind of flawed power structure…
A Swedish detective drama that begins in circumspect fashion – playing out as an engrossing procedural for about an hour, before opening up and turning into a tense action film (featuring an incredible helicopter sequence that had me gasping).
Convalescing in hospital, a senior police officer is brutally murdered. Colleagues across the force begin to grapple with who might be responsible and why. We meet a lot of police officers of all ranks and discover their petty feuds – as well as serious enmities that suggest a major schism in the force.
Each character is introduced with very little explanation so it takes a little while to get a handle on who they are but the narrative is so compelling…
