Weirdness, Laughter, Joy & Sorrow The Best Recipe For A Great Friendship

Swiss Army Man

Recently, I had the privilege of watching this magnificently, peculiar film. After reading countless articles and seeing all the hype surrounding this film, I decided to give it a try. I must say, I was rather excited to watch the ‘Best Film of the Year ‘. Although, I must admit, I am not a fan of The Harry Potter sequels, I am definitely a fan of Daniel Radcliff. Often, young actors who have gained popularity through films such as Harry Potter, or even Twilight (and other ‘teen’ movies) are eager to show the audience their individuality, ability to act and ‘nonconformist’ personas, however often this seems fabricated. This is certainly not the case with the talented guy that Radcliff is! Nevertheless, it is rather refreshing to see familiar faces, attracting the audiences to ‘art house’ form of cinema. 

 

I honestly think that actors such as Radcliff or even the eccentrics such as Shia LaBeouf are the new ‘hopes’ for cinema. They are young, rebellious with the ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude and this reflects in their work. Is this the Jimmy Dean rebellion, well it’s been over half a century since Jimmy’s ‘time’, but he was the ‘Rebel without a Cause’ and he was the hope at that era, I mean surely we would not see the iconic rebel, that Dean was, farting to swim oceans like a dolphin, that would have been absurd during the 50s (boy imagine that HA!), well its even absurd now right? Well perhaps yes, but that is why we love the art of film. I believe if Jimmy was among ‘our’ young actors today, he would be the one starring alongside Radcliff, LaBeouf  and many, many other ‘curiosities’. Before I watch a film, I often read a little about it, I like to know the plot in order to form some expectations; spoilers do not ruin the fun for me, they make me more eager to watch the film. However, before finally deciding to watch Swiss Army Man, all I knew was: Daniel Radcliff plays a dead body and beholds some rather bizarre abilities. My knowledge about the film was limited. To cut the story short, the film is about a farting dead body... But is it?

There are many ways to interpret the film. It is magnificent, humorous, odd and at times tear jerking. I can see why the opinions regarding this movie are hugely divided. For those who have a particular interest in the indie film-making, odd surrealist stories then this film is the hit. I personally loved the film, although after watching 20 minutes of it my emotions were mixed (Do I really want to spend over an hour of my life watching a guy carrying a dead body through the woods?), but that quickly changed. It is not just a dead body... How ever you want to interpret the film, it teaches us about humanity and life. In my opinion, it’s a beautiful reflection of life; life as a metaphor. As a picture/visual, the film is simply an odd piece; however the subtext of the film holds a deeper meaning. We are taught about the beautiful thing that is called life i.e. the thing we take for granted, and the urge, the uncanny urge to die. To put things simply, the narrative can be described as a walk on a thin line between the joys of life, and the beauty and denial of death. 

For those, who interpret the film simply through the visuals, it’s a well crafted piece of cinema. The colour palette is fresh, cinematography is also elegant, the linear narrative flows, however in order to understand the film, it is important to consider the psychological and emotional part of it. The visuals serve the audience as an aid to understand the wider context of the film. Swiss Army Man is rather demanding as the audience must not only absorb the visuals, but they must also understand the metaphor. For me personally, the film provoked contradictory emotions within me, or may I say I felt the contradictory emotions within and between the characters. Hank, who is our main protagonist here, ran away from life, desperate in despair he ‘learns’ to love life again through teaching ‘life’ to the dead guy. Whereas Manny, who can be described as a having a mind of a child, grows full of enthusiasm learning about this thing called life. The movie beautifully and rather uniquely presents the audience with ‘a body’ experiencing thoughts... He is unable to explain what his body, or rather mind is doing. This scene made me smile to myself, as I myself, often find myself lost in philosophical questions that I ask myself, ‘’Woah how is it possible that we think’’ ‘’Isn’t it strange that we have a little voice inside our heads’’ yeah those sort of questions that keep me up late at night... Anyway, Manny’s childlike interest and energy for life (which he cannot feel or experience, but yet finds beauty in it) motivates and provokes Hank to fight back, fight for his life, happiness and his rights to be unique and most importantly loved. However, even Manny begins to see the ‘ugly’ in life. While learning from Hank and while absorbing his emotions, Manny sees the hurt in Hank, and even Manny feels that he no longer wants to ‘live’. Of course the film reaches the climax, somehow things ‘work out’, well the ending and what leads to it is rather ambiguous. So do not expect an overly ‘jolly’ standard (and cheesy) Hollywood ending. Things fall into place, because this is life. Unfortunately, the world is not filled with rainbows and unicorns, but even through our struggles, misery and discouragement, life is always worth living.

In my opinion, yes this is the ‘Best Film’ of 2016 that I have seen. It serves everything I would expect a movie to serve. There is humour, melancholy, nostalgia, longing, and happiness found in the misery and a strange, but yet beautiful friendship between two peculiar beings. Kwan & Scheiner, who are the directors of this outstanding film, did an excellent job at conveying serious issues through humours and odd mechanisms. For me, this film was rather personal for many reasons, I could say I have been Hank, but I have also been Manny. I avoid being biased, however maybe this film was made exactly for me and others like me out there... I have always claimed that if I could force someone to watch a film, I would most certainly always choose La Haine (Kassovitz, 1995) however, I must add Swiss Army Man to my list also. I can promise you, that you will not be disappointed with the film. 

Anna Gaszkowska