Swiss Army Man

         

    What a weird, wonderful film. I highly enjoyed the absurdity and far-fetched story and how impactful it turned out to be. The story is essentially about a man who has been stranded on an island and is about to hang himself after he loses all hope of being rescued. He then sees a man who washed up the shore, who ends up being a magnificent being who's able to do inhuman things that could potentially save his life. They end up becoming good friends and obtaining great hope to return to the life they left behind, even though the inhuman man doesn't remember his old life. The main character, Hank, tricks the inhuman man, Manny, into believing his life was extraordinary and helps him to "remember" it. What Manny doesn't know is the people and events Hank is describing to Manny actually happened in Hank's life. He does this because he thinks hearing about that life will spark real memories for Manny of his own. The movie ends with Hank and Manny being found by authorities and them thinking Manny is dead. This leads the audience to question if Hank made up Manny as a result of being stranded alone for so long. This thankfully proves to be false as Manny starts showing his gifts to the authorities... and then he farts off into the horizon. Again, this was such a weird and far fetched idea but proved very affective as it left a lasting impression on me. 

    The essential idea I gathered from this film is to take up space in life. Make your presence known and don't be afraid to be yourself. Audiences find out Hank lived a very shy life where he didn't speak up for himself or go for what he wants. Manny teaches him through his strange abilities that being yourself and speaking your mind is a good thing. It allows you to feel this sense of freedom and helps you feel more alive. This is done in a very strange way, as Manny is normalizing talking about masturbation, farting, etc. That message can be lost by audiences because of how comical or absurd it is but after some reflecting, I was able to identify the reasoning behind it. Letting the world see the things you are afraid to show makes you a force of nature. Be loud, be proud, and take up space. The actors in this film, Daniel Radcliffe and Paul Dano, did a fantastic job. This is such a unique story and they really helped sell the idea well to audiences...or at least to me. The two had such a great chemistry that was required for this film, where is mainly centered around Hank and Manny's relationship. 

    Now that I have spoken about what I liked from the film, I did have one "critique", if you were to even call it that. Their relationship seemed to be one of friendship until they begun talking about this woman Hank liked in his old life and was tricking Manny into thinking she is from HIS old life. Hank dresses up as this woman and works to make Manny think he was in love with this woman in his old life because this woman gives Manny an...erection...that acts as a compass. There's no other way to say that to make it seem more normal. Hank leans into this by acting as this woman to continue that erection to help them get to where they need to go. In this, Hank and Manny gain a sort of romantic relationship. They even share a kiss underwater when Hank breathes life back into Manny. My critique is that is the last time you see any sort of romantic insinuation in the film. The rest of the film, they exist as more of a friendship and the romantic element is forgotten. You even see Hank get shy around the woman he used to like. I think if he truly had feelings for Manny, he wouldn't feel the need to be shy around his old crush. I feel like this was a plot point that could have been really cool to explore but it didn't really go anywhere. Other than that, I had no other plot points that I was confused about, which I'm proud of considering how unique the story was.

    To wrap up, the style of this film was very clearly made by the Daniels, since the editing style was so similar to "Everything Everywhere All at Once". The camera angles, design choices, lighting, musical elements, and scene transitions really stood out to me as clear proof of the two movies having common aspects. The musical elements in particular really stood out to me since it was something that stood out to me when watching "Everything Everywhere All at Once". The humming or singing of a tune and it not really making sense was present in "Swiss Army Man" as well. Similar musical themes seem to be a cool element the Daniels like to include in their films because of how similar they are done in both films. This movie really left a lasting impression on me and I enjoyed how its unlike any other movie I have ever seen. It was cool to see the first movie the Daniels made that really got attention and put their name out in the world. I look forward to seeing what they do next in their careers.