criterionforum.org

The Man on the Roof



Police officer Stig Nyman is murdered by an unseen assailant brandishing a bayonet. His colleagues Beck, Rönn and Kollberg pick up the case quickly, keen to solve the crime on one of their own. Investigating Nyman and drawing up a list of potential suspects leads the team to discover he was a lousy cop who abused his power with a history of brutality. As their search draws closer they are caught unaware by a rooftop assassin with a sniper rifle, picking off every cop he can. The Man on the Roof was adapted from the novel by celebrated writers Sjöwall and Wahlöö, whose Martin Beck character has been realised in multiple films and recent TV series Beck. Influenced by The French Connection's gritty vérité style, celebrated director Bo Widerberg created an incredible spectacle here that would become legendary in Sweden and remains the greatest crime film from the heart of Scandi noir.

Limited Edition Special Features:

• High Definition digital transfer
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• Introduction by Bo Widerberg
• Scene-select audio commentary by critic and genre expert Peter Jilmstad
• With a View to Realism (2004, 82 mins) documentary by Markus Strömqvist on the making of The Man on the Roof
• Bo Widerberg (1977, 39 mins) an intimate portrait of the filmmaker in which Widerberg discusses his films and approach to filmmaking
• Bo Widerberg interviewed during the shooting of The Man on the Roof for the SVT TV show "Rapport"
• Original trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
• Limited edition booklet with contributions from Widerberg biographer and critic Marten Blomkvist, archival writing by Widerberg, Anders Marklund on genre filmmaking in Sweden, Daniel Brodén on the film and society, contemporary reviews and film credits
• Limited edition of 2000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Just put this on and loved it. Straightforward procedural that snaps into action mode all of a sudden, and has some brilliant creative flourishes (particularly the opening scene, which was spectacularly well gauged). The film has been beautifully restored, and I've just been informed there are more Widerberg titles on Netflix - including The Man from Majorca, which I'm really hoping Radiance have lined up to follow this one (it's also with SF Studios, AFAIK).

Will check out the extras when I have a moment, but this is definitely one I can see myself returning to again and again. Highly recommended!

rapta, the Widerberg film that is well worth tracking down and I would really love to see appear on disc at some point is the fantastic 60s social drama The Pram, which feels very much in the tradition of the British 'kitchen sink' films as a pregnant girl gets trapped between her two beaus (one the ladies man who knocked her up; the other an ineffectual intellectual) whilst preparing for life leaving her family home (though not without stealthing in whilst the family is watching TV and stealing their chandelier from the dining room as a parting memento! Which leads to the amusing visual of her transporting this chandelier on the bus!), considering the options of abortion with her co-workers in her depressing factory job and building toward the amazing final image of her becoming a single mother, pushing a pram through the streets whilst the sunlight glinting off of the tilting windows from the offices surrounding her threaten to blind her as she presses onwards into her new life.

Its a magnificent film, and I really hope it gets rediscovered at some point soon. Although I have been hoping for that for years now.

colinr0380 wrote: Mon Apr 24, 2023 10:35 pm rapta, the Widerberg film that is well worth tracking down and I would really love to see appear on disc at some point is the fantastic 60s social drama The Pram, which feels very much in the tradition of the British 'kitchen sink' films as a pregnant girl gets trapped between her two beaus (one the ladies man who knocked her up; the other an ineffectual intellectual) whilst preparing for life leaving her family home (though not without stealthing in whilst the family is watching TV and stealing their chandelier from the dining room as a parting memento! Which leads to the amusing visual of her transporting this chandelier on the bus!), considering the options of abortion with her co-workers in her depressing factory job and building toward the amazing final image of her becoming a single mother, pushing a pram through the streets whilst the sunlight glinting off of the tilting windows from the offices surrounding her threaten to blind her as she presses onwards into her new life.

Its a magnificent film, and I really hope it gets rediscovered at some point soon. Although I have been hoping for that for years now.

That's one of the ones on UK Netflix, as rapta says, though it's under the title of The Baby Carriage. Also available are The Man from Majorca, Love 65 and The Serpent's Way.

I have similar issues with Polish films on Netflix (of which there are a great many, albeit almost invariably post-2000). I’ll see something whose title I don’t recognise, think “ooh, that looks intriguing” from the cast and synopsis and will sometimes even start watching it before I realise that I saw it at the Gdynia Film Festival a few years earlier before its international English title had been finalised.

GaryC wrote: Tue Apr 25, 2023 6:05 am That's one of the ones on UK Netflix, as rapta says, though it's under the title of The Baby Carriage. Also available are The Man from Majorca, Love 65 and The Serpent's Way.

It's showing under the title The Pram for me, though there might be some international variation. It was released in France a few years ago under the title Le Péché suédois - The Swedish Sin!

I think that all of Widerberg's features have been restored in recent years (with the exception of Heja Roland!) so hopefully this release of The Man on the Roof is the first in a series of Radiance releases. Elvira Madigan, All Things Fair, Joe Hill, and Raven's End would be especially great.

Yup, playing as The Pram for me as well.

Although the other day I had an amusing email from Netflix offering me recommendations "because you watched The Departure", and my immediate reaction was "what the fuck's The Departure?", which turned out to be Skolimowski's Le Départ. Under which title it's playing on Netflix, so I don't know why they "helpfully" translated it for marketing purposes.

(Not least because The Start would be a more contextually-sensitive English translation anyway, although admittedly my reaction would still have been the same.)

"The Serpent's Way" is a masterpiece...sad I haven't been able to see it since the 1987 Toronto Film Festival. And, of course, US Netflix doesn't seem to have any of these films streaming.

MichaelB wrote: Tue Apr 25, 2023 1:48 pm Yup, playing as The Pram for me as well.

I think it may be only Justwatch which calls it The Baby Carriage. I'll add it to my Netflix watch list in due course. I haven't watched Le départ yet either, though now may be a good time as I've just handed in my review of the BFI Skolimowski set.

this is already selling out, before I've even gotten to watch my copy. this label is an unbelievable success so far

Widerberg's introduction for TV audiences is a great inclusion here. It seems snide at first (and very well may be, I laughed at the call-out of inattentive parents!) but then he engages the ostensibly-youthful target demographic on an adult level to talk about the disease of violent oppression breeding conditioned reactive violence, providing education and insight in psychological, philosophical, and sociological spaces. I was really moved and impressed with not only his points, but how thorough he was in his attempted explanation of his artistic choice. If you have to pause and ask the figurative viewer if you're being too confusing, you probably are! But it's to Widerberg's credit that he doesn't settle for a simplified message, and clearly wants to inspire developing minds to create a better world without as much darkness on both sides of the fence. It's a strong three minute intro, and I highly suggest those with the Radiance disc play the film with it in front