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The Man on the Balcony (film)

1993 film by Daniel Alfredson

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ7750117 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Man on the Balcony (Swedish: Mannen på balkongen, German: Der Mann auf dem Balkon) is a 1993 Swedish-German crime thriller film, based on the 1967 book The Man on the Balcony written by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. This is the fourth film which stars Gösta Ekman as Martin Beck and Rolf Lassgård as Gunvald Larsson.

"Mannen på balkongen" has been considered as the best ever Martin Beck film starring Gösta Ekman, and Gösta Ekman became highly popular and regarded for his brilliant portrayal of Martin Beck in this picture by his fans. His fine performance also attracted several new fans to his side, and "The Man on the Balcony" was one of the most successful films in Sweden in the year of 1993.

Plot

A mad serial killer terrorizes Stockholm in the hot summer of 1993, by abducting, raping and strangling young schoolgirls to death in the green parks of the inner town. When the first girl is found dead in the Vanadislunden Park, Martin Beck and his team are assigned the case and realize that this will become one of their most emotional investigations ever, especially for Beck's younger colleague Lennart Kollberg who himself has a little daughter. An old lady was robbed by an unknown robber in the park at the same time as the murder was committed, which means that Martin Beck must catch the robber first, as he is the only key witness.

Cast

Gösta Ekman as Martin Beck

Kjell Bergqvist as Lennart Kollberg

Rolf Lassgård as Gunvald Larsson

Niklas Hjulström as Benny Skacke

Tova Magnusson Norling as Putte Beck

Jonas Falk as Stig-Åke Malm

Bernt Ström as Einar Rönn

Ulf Friberg as Åke Persson

Ing-Marie Carlsson as Gun Kollberg

Magdalena Ritter as Susanne Grassman

Carl-Magnus Dellow as Policeman

Michael Kausch as Fransson

Udo Schenk as Miroslav Dragan

Åsa Göransson as Lisbeth Karlström

Monica Nielsen as Kiosk aunt

Johanna Ström as Lena

Ellen Swedenmark as Karin

Christina Ådén as Eva

Elias Ringqvist as Pelle

Fredrik Ådén as Erik

Maj Sjöwall as Teacher

Awards

At the 29th Guldbagge Awards the film won the award for Best Screenplay (Daniel Alfredson, Jonas Cornell). It was also nominated for Best Film, Best Director (Alfredson) and Best Cinematography (Peter Mokrosinski).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “The Man on the Balcony (film)” as 1993 film by Daniel Alfredson. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Balcony, film and Daniel.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1993, 1967—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1993-11-26. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Balcony, film and Daniel providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Man on the Balcony (film)”, the useful work is to connect “1993 film by Daniel Alfredson” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7750117. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1993 and 1967.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

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  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Man on the Balcony (film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Man on the Balcony (film) primary sources, The Man on the Balcony (film) archive and Balcony research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Man on the Balcony (film)”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Man on the Balcony (film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.