The Man on the Roof

1976 film

The Man on the Roof

Swedish DVD cover

Swedish| Mannen på taket
Directed by| Bo Widerberg
Screenplay by| Bo Widerberg
Based on| The Abominable Man
by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
Produced by| Per Berglund
Starring| Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt
Sven Wollter
Thomas Hellberg
Håkan Serner
Cinematography| Odd Geir Sæther
Per Källberg
Edited by| Sylvia Ingemarsson
Bo Widerberg
Music by| Björn J:son Lindh

Production
companies

SF Studios, Swedish Film Institute, Bo Widerberg Film AB

Distributed by| SF Studios, Swedish Film Institute

Release date

* 1 October 1976 (1976-10-01) (Sweden)

Running time

| 110 minutes
Country| Sweden
Language| Swedish
Budget| 4 million SEK
Box office| 11.5 million SEK

The Man on the Roof (Swedish: Mannen på taket) is a 1976 Swedish police procedural-thriller film directed by Bo Widerberg. It is based on the 1971 novel The Abominable Man by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. The film stars Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt, Sven Wollter, Thomas Hellberg and Håkan Serner.

Widerberg's direction was inspired by the 1971 American film The French Connection,[citation needed] and Widerberg would make one more crime film in 1984: The Man from Majorca.

The film won two Guldbagge Awards in 1977, for Best Film and Best Actor (Håkan Serner).[1]

## Plot

[edit]

A veteran Swedish policeman named Stig Nyman is brutally murdered, bludgeoned and eviscerated with a bayonet while being treated for a secret illness at a Stockholm hospital. The investigation that follows is led by pragmatic veteran Martin Beck and uninspiring detective Einar Rönn. It turns out that the murdered man was known among colleagues for abusing his police privileges and brutalizing civilians. Although his colleagues generally disliked Nyman and had been aware of his behavior, the police force's esprit de corps had suppressed complaints about him and prevented any reprisals.

The investigation proceeds, and finally Beck and his team find a trail that leads to the murderer, who turns out to be an ex-policeman named Eriksson. Eriksson's wife Marja had diabetes and went out to buy insulin before passing out from her illness; Nyman found her unconscious on the street and instead of bringing in medical treatment, had her arrested for public intoxication and placed in a holding cell. She fell into a coma and died, and Eriksson blamed the police for the tragedy. Now, some years later, he has become a social misfit and the authorities are in the process of removing his daughter Malin from his custody.

As Beck and his team close in on Eriksson he climbs up on the roof of the apartment building where he lives in central Stockholm, bringing with him both an automatic rifle and a sharpshooter's rifle. He starts to fire at any policeman and police vehicle he can spot, killing one uniformed officer and seriously wounding another. The two cops who are in the middle of Eriksson's rampage are Dets. Kollberg (a married husband who has a progressive approach to his job) and Larsson (a macho hothead who doesn't like Kollberg specifically or the top Stockholm PD brass in general but who is a tough and smart cop). Larsson suffers a non-fatal wound from shrapnel hit by one of Eriksson's shots, and they get out of the area by disguising themselves as doctors.

When the police commissioner decides to bring in the anti-terrorist units, including two police helicopters, Eriksson shoots up one of the helicopters such that it crashes on a crowded plaza, Odenplan, near the building where he resides. Beck tries an individual initiative, climbing to the roof on a flimsy external ladder, but is shot in the chest, left severely injured and bleeding on a ledge leading to the roof until Kollberg bravely rescues him and gets him to a safe apartment along the building's facade. A group that includes Larsson, Hult (a stone-faced officer who was one of the few members of the force who was close friends to Nyman, and who resolves to avenge his death), special operations soldiers and a civilian volunteer with his own firearms on hand use explosives to blast to the roof where Eriksson is hiding. He stops them and is about to shoot Larsson when the civilian fires a shot that slams into Eriksson's shoulder and leaves him disabled. Hult rages towards Eriksson but only hits him once in the face before he's pulled away by other officers who arrest the sniper. Larsson tells the civilian he let him take the shot because a cop shooting another cop would be a whole other problem set, and bluntly says the civilian will have to answer questions about the unlicensed gun he had on hand. Eriksson is left staring into the sky as the movie ends.

## Cast

[edit]

* Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt as Martin Beck: Detective Inspector (Kriminalkommissarie)
* Sven Wollter as Lennart Kollberg: Criminal police (Kriminalpolis)
* Thomas Hellberg as Gunvald Larsson: Criminal police
* Håkan Serner as Einar Rönn: Criminal police
* Ingvar Hirdwall as Åke "The Man on the Roof" Eriksson
* Bellan Roos as Mrs. Eriksson: Eriksson's mother
* Gus Dahlström as Mr. Eriksson: Eriksson's father
* Hadar Johansson as Stig Nyman
* Harald Hamrell as Stefan Nyman: Stig Nyman's son
* Birgitta Valberg as Mrs. Nyman
* Carl-Axel Heiknert as Palmon Harald Hult: First police constable (Förste polisassistent)
* Torgny Anderberg as Stig Åke Malm: Chief Superintendent (Polisintendent)
* Folke Hjort as Fredrik Melander: Criminal police
* Eva Remaeus as Mrs. Kollberg
* Gunnel Wadner as Mrs. Beck

## Production

[edit]

The actor Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt was picked for the part as the policeman Beck after Wideberg had seen him with a serious face in a talk show not knowing he was on air.[citation needed] Previously, Lindstedt was mostly known for roles in comedy films.

Filming took place between 11 December 1975 and 30 April 1976, using a budget of 3.9 million SEK.[2] Bo Widerberg didn't like the fake theater blood so pigs blood was used.

## Reception

[edit]

The critics were very positive and especially praised the dialogue. Around 750,000 people attended the film in Sweden, making it the most successful film produced by the Swedish Film Institute until Fanny and Alexander was released in 1982.[2] The film was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 50th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Mannen på taket (1976)". Swedish Film Institute. 7 March 2014.
2. ^ a b "Mannen på taket - Press reaction and comment" (in Swedish). Swedish Film Institute. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
3. ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

## External links

[edit]

* The Man on the Roof at IMDb
* The Man on the Roof at the Swedish Film Institute Database

Awards and achievements

Preceded by

Release the Prisoners to Spring

|  Guldbagge Awards for Best Film
1976/77  | Succeeded by

The Adventures of Picasso

Preceded by

City of My Dreams

|  Guldbagge Awards for Swedish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
1977  | Succeeded by

A Respectable Life

* v
* t
* e

Martin Beck

* Maj Sjöwall
* Per Wahlöö

Novels|

* Roseanna
* The Man Who Went Up in Smoke
* The Man on the Balcony
* The Laughing Policeman
* The Fire Engine That Disappeared
* Murder at the Savoy
* The Abominable Man
* The Locked Room
* Cop Killer
* The Terrorists

Films based
on the novels|

| Independent|

* Roseanna (1967)
* The Laughing Policeman
* The Man on the Roof
* Unfinished Supper
* Der Mann, der sich in Luft auflöste
* Beck – De gesloten kamer

|

Gösta Ekman|

* Roseanna (1993)
* Brandbilen som försvann
* Polis polis potatismos!
* Mannen på balkongen
* Polismördaren
* Stockholm Marathon

TV series
based only on
the characters|

| Season 1|

* Beck
* Mannen med ikonerna
* Vita nätter
* Öga för öga
* Pensionat Pärlan
* Monstret
* The Money Man
* Spår i mörker

|

Season 2|

* Hämndens pris
* Mannen utan ansikte
* Kartellen
* Enslingen
* Okänd avsändare
* Annonsmannen
* Pojken i glaskulan
* Sista vittnet

Season 3|

* Skarpt läge
* Flickan i jordkällaren
* Gamen
* Advokaten
* Den japanska shungamålningen
* Den svaga länken
* Det tysta skriket
* I Guds namn

Season 4|

* I stormens öga
* Levande begravd

Season 5|

* Rum 302
* Familjen
* Invasionen
* Sjukhusmorden
* Gunvald
* Steinar
* Vid vägs ände
* Sista dagen

Season 6|

* Ditt eget blod
* Den tunna isen
* Utan uppsåt
* Djävulens advokat

Season 7|

* Undercover
* Utom rimligt tvivel
* Döden i Samarra
* Den förlorade sonen

Season 8|

* Ett nytt liv
* Rage Room
* 58 minuter
* Den gråtande polisen

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Bo Widerberg

* Raven's End
* Love 65
* Heja Roland!
* Elvira Madigan
* The White Game
* Ådalen 31
* Joe Hill
* Stubby
* The Man on the Roof
* Victoria
* The Man from Majorca
* The Serpent's Way
* All Things Fair

* v
* t
* e

Guldbagge Award for Best Film

* The Silence (1963/64)
* Swedish Wedding Night (1964/65)
* Heja Roland! (1965/66)
* Persona (1966/67)
* Hugo and Josephine (1967/68)
* The White Game (1968/69)
* A Swedish Love Story & Mistreatment (1969/70)
* The Emigrants (1970/71)
* The Apple War (1971/72)
* Cries and Whispers (1972/73)
* A Handful of Love (1973/74)
* The Last Adventure (1974/75)
* Release the Prisoners to Spring (1975/76)
* The Man on the Roof (1976/77)
* The Adventures of Picasso (1977/78)
* A Respectable Life (1978/79)
* To Be a Millionaire (1979/80)
* Children's Island (1980/81)
* The Simple-Minded Murderer (1981/82)
* Fanny and Alexander (1982/83)
* Beyond Sorrow, Beyond Pain (1984)
* My Life as a Dog (1985)
* The Sacrifice (1986)
* Pelle the Conqueror (1987)
* Katinka & Back to Ararat (1988)
* The Miracle in Valby (1989)
* Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg (1990)
* Il Capitano: A Swedish Requiem (1991)
* House of Angels (1992)
* The Slingshot (1993)
* A Pizza in Jordbro (1994)
* All Things Fair (1995)
* Hamsun (1996)
* Tic Tac (1997)
* Show Me Love (1998)
* Tsatsiki, morsan och polisen (1999)
* Songs from the Second Floor (2000)
* As White as in Snow (2001)
* Lilya 4-ever (2002)
* Evil (2003)
* Dalecarlians (2004)
* Nina's Journey (2005)
* Kidz in da Hood (2006)
* You, the Living (2007)
* Everlasting Moments (2008)
* The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)
* Sebbe (2010)
* She Monkeys (2011)
* Eat Sleep Die (2012)
* The Reunion (2013)
* Force Majeure (2014)
* The Here After (2015)
* The Giant (2016)
* The Nile Hilton Incident (2017)
* Border (2018)
* And Then We Danced (2019)
* Run Uje Run (2020)
* Clara Sola (2021)
* Triangle of Sadness (2022)
* Paradise Is Burning (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Swedish submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

1956–1975|

* The Staffan Stolle Story (1956)
* The Seventh Seal (1957)
* The Magician (1958)
* No Award (1959)
* The Virgin Spring (1960)
* Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
* The Mistress (1962)
* The Silence (1963)
* Raven's End (1964)
* Dear John (1965)
* Persona (1966)
* Here Is Your Life (1967)
* Shame (1968)
* Ådalen 31 (1969)
* A Swedish Love Story (1970)
* The Emigrants (1971)
* The New Land (1972)
* No Award (1973)
* No Award (1974)
* No Award (1975)

1976–2000|

* City of My Dreams (1976)
* The Man on the Roof (1977)
* No Award (1978)
* A Respectable Life (1979)
* Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti (1980)
* Children's Island (1981)
* Flight of the Eagle (1982)
* Fanny and Alexander (1983)
* Åke and His World (1984)
* Ronia, the Robber's Daughter (1985)
* The Sacrifice (1986)
* Hip hip hurra! (1987)
* No Award (1988)
* The Women on the Roof (1989)
* Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg (1990)
* The Ox (1991)
* House of Angels (1992)
* The Slingshot (1993)
* The Last Dance (1994)
* All Things Fair (1995)
* Jerusalem (1996)
* Tic Tac (1997)
* Show Me Love (1998)
* Under the Sun (1999)
* Songs from the Second Floor (2000)

2001–present|

* Jalla! Jalla! (2001)
* Lilya 4-ever (2002)
* Evil (2003)
* As It Is in Heaven (2004)
* Zozo (2005)
* Falkenberg Farewell (2006)
* You, the Living (2007)
* Everlasting Moments (2008)
* Involuntary (2009)
* Simple Simon (2010)
* Beyond (2011)
* The Hypnotist (2012)
* Eat Sleep Die (2013)
* Force Majeure (2014)
* A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2015)
* A Man Called Ove (2016)
* The Square (2017)
* Border (2018)
* And Then We Danced (2019)
* Charter (2020)
* Tigers (2021)
* Boy from Heaven (2022)
* Opponent (2023)
* The Last Journey (2024)

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