- In the 60s, as a young director, he questioned Ingmar Bergman's status in Sweden and in the world with unusual fire and soul, believing the stories and camera work were to constructed and Bergmans characters too stiff. On the other hand, Bergman was very impressed with Widerberg's films, but the two directors never met.
- Left school at 17, then deserted from the army after being conscripted, but was able to avoid prosecution. Had published a novel and short stories by the age of 22.
- Not a friend of good planning, he sometimes rewrote parts of the script in the margins of a newspaper while sitting on the can in the morning, before going to the shoot. He flourished under chaos, with everything happening fast and in no particular order. This was extremely demanding for the crew, never really knowing what to except, but everybody agreed it was a great way to get the energy up for every day.
- Suffered from bipolar disorder but only agreed treatment in his later years.
- Favoured natural lighting in his films and considered black & white photography as too stark and stylised.
- Liked to bet on horses, and once won 175,000 SEK (Approximately 25,000 USD).
- Father of Johan Widerberg
- Often stated that Adalen 31 (1969) and The Serpent's Way (1986) were the two films in his career he felt were the happiest ones.
- Despite a successful run as an author in the 1950s he was never happy with the books he wrote, calling them "dead pieces of Swedish literature.".
- Was a festival regular in Cannes and would often dine together with François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Lindsay Anderson and Ken Loach.
- Big admirer of Stanley Kubrick.
- Rose to prominence in 1962 as a newspaper film critic, with the publication of his controversial book "Visions of Swedish Cinema", in which he criticized the monopolisation of his country's film industry by Ingmar Bergman and his adherents.
- Considers John Cassavetes, François Truffaut and Elia Kazan some of his strongest directorial influences.
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