As of early 2020, this film doesn't appear to be available commercially. There is a low-quality version which can be found online that looks like it came from an old VHS recording. Because of the image quality, I can't really attest to the overall look of the film. This also makes it difficult to tell if Patrick McGoohan is made to look pale and tired with bags under his eyes, which would befit his character, or if it is just... well... not a Blue Ray DVD! There is very little music soundtrack, which does make an already rather stark-looking film even more so at times. It is also a little confusing having a mainly British cast put in a Swedish setting.
The best performances are by Alf Kjellin (Rogers) and McGoohan (Berger). Granted, Bill Travers' character (Andersson) is basically a big oaf, and you can't do too much with that in a drama. Virginia McKenna as McGoohan's wife is ok, and their son Rolf is played well by John Moulder-Brown.
As for the subject matter, and who is in the right, that is up to the viewer. Most of the cast views Berger as a coward for not risking his life to keep a large amount of money away from two robbers who had already injured two people. Berger was thinking of his wife and son, but his boss thinks he should have sacrificed his life to the Postal Service. The audience is left to ponder just who was right or wrong.
McGoohan plays Berger as very quiet, but obviously warm hearted and intelligent. As the story progresses, and his marriage falls apart, he becomes even more of a lost soul, though he never really gives in and try to change for the sake of others. He knows who he is and why he did what he did. But any display of emotion is very low key. No "Number Six" outburst of anger here. In fact, the second to last scene, where Berger goes a bit batty and confronts Andersson at gunpoint, he is actually ever-so-slightly "hammy", though this may simply be how he felt a quiet, unassuming man like Berger would behave in that situation. If a man isn't prone to loosing his temper, doing so may actually be frightening to himself, and McGoohan's Berger does indeed seem afraid of what he is doing in that scene.
All in all, I did expect a better film. Perhaps if it were a less stark production, perhaps set in Britain, and McGoohan gave his Berger just a smidge more emotion, it would be a bit more engaging.
