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 Connections 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.
