Bo Widerberg's vision of Swedish cinema parted radically with its contemporary form. He called for a greater political significance and more progressive story telling. Ingmar Bergman being the leading figure of Swedish cinema, was not his ideal at all. In his book A vision of Swedish cinema he concluded that Ingmar Bergman's films almost exclusively dealt with issues directed upwards. According to Widerberg, Bergman made vertical films when the need for horizontal ones was most dire.