(USA, 90 min.)
Written and directed by Daniels
Starring: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe
Get a whiff of Swiss
Army Man! This Sundance comedy of infamous flatulence features Daniel
Radcliffe as a farting corpse. His performance is a true novelty, not only
because the recurring joke has lots of gas, but also because his turn as a
stiff injects the film with life. Swiss
Army Man is an irreverent bromance for the indie crowd.
Radcliffe stars alongside Paul Dano, who plays Hank, a man stranded on an island following a plane crash. Hank wants to escape his isolation and he finally decides to end it all, but it’s only once he’s hanging by a noose that he sees Manny washed up on the beach. The dead guy literally saves his life, since Hank realises that he isn’t alone anymore and runs towards the man, unaware that he’s already in early stages of decomposition.
Maybe it’s the maggots churning in his belly or just his
bowels relaxing with rigor mortis, but Manny greets Hank with a big healthy
fart. Cue another, then another, then a whole series of pops and disgustingly
squishy, wet-sounding excretions, and Manny all but ignites a fireworks show of
flatulence to celebrate Hank’s euphoria.
Then, in what might be the most outrageous desecration of a
corpse since the climax of Neon Demon,
Hank hitches a ride to the farting stiff and harnesses the gas power like a
motorboat. The opening credits have only just begun by this point in the film,
but Swiss Army Man lays claim to
being the most wildly ‘out there’ movie of the summer.
Things get even weirder, though, once Hank and Manny find
land. After crossing the ocean through the power of wet farts, Hank notices
that Manny shows signs of life. It’s a testament to Radcliffe’s performance
that Swiss Army Man works at all
because he makes the stiff surprisingly lifelike without betraying a pulse or
heartbeat. Maybe it’s the imperceptible grin on his face or the posthumous
sparkle that glazes his eyes, but Radcliffe gives the corpse a hint of life
even before he becomes animated. Give credit, too, to Canuck editor Matthew
Hannam (Into the Forest) for cutting
this performance together with a dynamic pulse, stitching the character
together like Dr. Frankenstein, to portray someone who’s both dead and alive. Swiss Army Man creates sparks of life
without betraying fantastical nuances of the fetid corpse.
Dano is fine too, although his performance carries the
self-awareness that he can’t seem to shake from his work. Together, Dano and
Radcliffe are a fun screen team as Hank draws life from Manny and gives it back
in turn, thriving from the power of human contact in a bunch of increasingly
loony set pieces. Hank, for example, realises that he can resurrect Manny from
the dead bit by bit by showing him wank mags and feeding him false hope of a
girl who awaits him a home. Similarly, as Manny rises to life, his wayward
erections act as compasses pointing the boys back home.
The nature of letting boners be their guide makes the
relationship between the two men increasingly intimate, which Swiss Army Man handles with a droll
sense of humour and a queer-positive outlook that’s bound to resonate strongly
with audiences post-Orlando as the men realise a bond forming between them. Whether
it’s romantic or platonic, love or friendship, it’s strong.
Swiss Army Man
toys with the possibility that Hank might be bringing Manny back to life merely
as a coping mechanism for his own survival, and the film humorously plays with
Manny’s life/death dynamic by having Radcliffe’s make-up become bluer and bluer
as his character rots in the summer heat. The film admittedly self-implodes in
its messy finale when the true nature of Manny’s mortality reveals itself, but
logic isn’t the endgame, eclectic charm and humour is.
The writing/directing team of the Daniels (Dan Kwan and
Daniel Scheinert) devises some ridiculous scenes to play up the offbeat
bromance between the human and the stiff. From lighting bonfires with rigid
bones and intestinal gas to hunting game with Manny’s hard limbs, Swiss Army Man uses every element of the
dead dude’s body to its advantage. The highlight of the film, though, is an
elaborate skit in which Hank reconstructs a city bus and dresses in drag to
seduce Manny and let him live out his fantasy relationship with the girl he
believes is waiting for him back home (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Set to the
theme of Jurassic Park, she-Hank
waltzes into the bus with a wash of heartwarming natural light and seductive
slow motion. The notes of John Williams have never had such an elevated sense
of optimism and irony. It’s such a funny and beautiful scene because, like Swiss Army Man, it’s so proudly and
unabashedly random.
Swiss Army Man opens in Canada beginning with Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver on July 1.
Catch sneak peeks in Toronto at Cineplex Varsity with Daniels in attendance for a Q&A.
Catch sneak peeks in Toronto at Cineplex Varsity with Daniels in attendance for a Q&A.