Wow! I wasn't expecting this - a sober, detailed, semi-documentary study of police investigation and tactics from, of all people, Bo Widerberg?!
I am astonished to say that this is a remarkably realistic and believable film and, as another viewer suggested, should be viewed by current filmakers as a prime reference for how films in this genre can be successfully approached. This truly ranks with the best American crime/police films of the 70's (and soars above all their pale French imitations), though it may lack the visceral impact of DIRTY HARRY or a character as indelible as Popeye Doyle. But character development is not really the film's focus; it is getting the details right - which it does - of the methodical police investigation of a murder and then their forced tactical response to a sniper. In doing this Widerberg and co. avoid a number of cliches and dramatic pitfalls that have plagued other films and television dramas working this turf over the last 40 years. These include cowboy heroics by "rogue" cops, an over-reliance on police jargon (that supposedly lets us know we are "inside the world" of police work), allowing interpersonal melodramas between characters to blur the focus of the story (i.e. catching the criminal), and, of course, the now ritual abuse of explosions, car chases, and machine-gun editing (to supposedly heighten our excitement). There are also no cartoonish twisted-genius serial killers masterminding absurd plot twists. Here the killer is as unspectacular, and as understandable (although we never meet him) as the men pursuing him. It is also remarkable how characters casually enter into the film as they enter the investigation - no one emerges as THE hero - everyone just does his job. And Widerberg is so effective at focusing us on the quiet, "routine" details of how the case develops that when violence erupts in the later part of the film it is truly startling. The scenes of panicking crowds have an unsettling documentary feel. The police response to this threat is, again, restrained, unspectacular (all right the helicopter attack may be pushing it a bit) and intensely dramatic for just that reason (no bells or whistles required). When the criminal is finally stopped it is almost anti-climatic (no drawn-out battles to the death, no swelling music) and this is as it should be for the world remains the same, evil still exists, and the job goes on. Can't wait to see MAN FROM MALLORCA. 9 out of 10.
