Respond to these rapid questions in our Swiss Army Man quiz and we will tell you which Swiss Army Man character you are. Play it now.
The phrase “Oh, not that again” is one that absolutely cannot be used in reference to “Swiss Army Man.”
This movie, written by Dan Kwan and directed by Daniel Scheinert (who are billed together as The Daniels), begins on an isolated island with a depressed man named Hank (Paul Dano) interrupting a suicide attempt to check out what he thinks is a shipwreck survivor (Daniel Radcliffe) who’s washed ashore nearby. The deceased man had a very offensive flatulence. Hank is not successful in reviving him, but his efforts cause the corpse to spew fresh water from its mouth like an old-fashioned hand-pumped faucet, which causes him to use more gas than he would have otherwise.
Hank rides the corpse through the waves like a jet ski until they both make landfall, at which point Hank carries him on his back through the forest similar to how Luke Skywalker carried Yoda while conversing with him about life, love, and what it means to be human. Since the dead man, whom Hank gives the meaningful name “Manny,” is able to speak but has no recollection of anything, it is necessary for Hank to impart all of the information that he has acquired. Although this is not entirely the case, Manny’s relationship with Hank is analogous to that of an innocent young child and his father. The central couple in “Swiss Army Man” could be compared to friends in a buddy movie, a boyfriend and girlfriend, Pinocchio and Gepetto, and partners in an extended outdoor theatrical improv exercise at various points throughout the film. One of the most extended scenes takes place in a cave with a border that forms a proscenium arch across the screen. Over the course of the scene, the characters construct an elaborate “set” there out of garbage and act out a significant moment in one of the men’s lives. In addition to being a gas factory, a jet ski, and a water pump, Manny also has the ability to be a “gun” that can spit objects at a high rate of speed, a “axe” that can chop things with his arm, and a few other things. The title describes the manner in which Hank discovers and makes use of Manny’s various abilities.
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You’re always aware of the various component parts that fed the filmmakers’ imaginations (primarily other movies, music videos, and perhaps children’s books and fairy tales), but “Swiss Army Man” is such a Frankenstein-like amalgam of bits and pieces that you can’t fairly describe it as being about anything else. It’s interesting that of all the literary comparisons I could have jumped to a novel about a man trying to reanimate dead tissue; this film sure does a number on It has the feel of “Terrence Malick’s Weekend at Bernie’s,” thanks to the trailer-for-itself editing style of some sections, the religiously inflected and chant-driven score (composed by Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull and Robert McDowell), and shots of sunlight streaming down through forest canopies. All of these elements were contributed by Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull and Robert McDowell. There are moments that call to mind the film adaptations of “Where the Wild Things Are” and “Peter Pan” directed by Spike Jonze, as well as the works of David Lynch in their entirety, as well as the scenes from “Pinocchio” that take place on Pleasure Island, and so on.
Swiss Army Man Quiz
The movie morphs from a psychological drama into a literally excremental comedy and then into a hard-edged survival picture. It occasionally embraces the cosmic and transforms into an emo hipster answer to “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The movie has a lot of flexibility. There is, however, no point in attempting to deal with “Swiss Army Man” on any terms other than its own because the emotional temperatures of the movie fluctuate so intuitively from moment to moment, along with the situations and editing choices that go along with them.
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The phrase “dreamlike” is frequently used by film critics, but what exactly does it mean to be described as dreamlike? The majority of the time, it indicates that the imagery and situations depicted in the film are strange and not necessarily realistic, or that the storytelling places a high value on incidents and moments of raw emotion. All of these descriptors apply to “Swiss Army Man,” but the song is also dreamlike in a more profound sense. Much like the logic of a dream, the song’s structural logic is entirely emotional. Observe, for example, how the pace of the cutting is synchronized with Manny and Hank; it quickens when they are rapidly speaking, but it slows down when we are watching them relax. This is because the rhythm of the cutting mirrors their behavior. Take note, as well, of the way in which the film makes use of music: sometimes Hank or Manny or both will start singing along with the score, while other times the score will seem to be taking cues from them, even listening to them and following their lead. Observe how the movie does this. (The music composed by John Williams for the film “Jurassic Park,” which was not coincidentally based on a Frankenstein story, is referenced more than once.)
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The performances are supple to the same degree. The earnestness of Dano, which has been exploited in some movies for the purpose of creating an unsettling effect, is displayed in a straightforward manner in this scene. As a result, Hank comes across as a damaged but good man who is working through a personal catastrophe. (It’s possible that the entire movie is just a dream.) The work of Radcliffe elevates Manny well beyond the status of a one-joke character. Even though the majority of the performance is sweet and innocent, giving the impression that the character is a child trapped in an adult’s body, there are moments when Radcliffe’s delivery is so agonized that it is excruciating to watch. It is as if the character is a victim of a severe neurological trauma who is teaching himself to speak or walk again.
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Even the most ludicrous and self-awarely broad touches, such as the numerous fart jokes, have the lucid quality of situations that one might experience in a dream. When you describe certain parts of your dreams to other people after you’ve had them, those parts seem very silly or very stupid, but when you’re actually experiencing them, those parts are intense, maybe not funny at all, or so purely emotional that they rip through any ironic detachment you carried into your slumber and affect you in a piercingly direct way. This is similar to how a young child might react to twists in a bedtime story that a parent made up on
The movie is not as endearing as it sometimes wants to be, it tries too hard to wow us at times, the introduction of a “seize the day” message reduces it, and in the end there may not be enough plot, or situations—or whatever you want to call the film’s amalgamation of incidents—to justify a feature length running time. The movie is not as endearing as it sometimes wants to be, and it strains too hard to wow us at times. (Much like certain dreams, it has multiple conclusions when just one would have been sufficient.) However, “Swiss Army Man” is still very impressive due to the fact that it refuses to explain itself and instead remains committed to the vision it set out to create. The Daniels have created a film that is both a labor of love and a work of sheer arrogant nerve, one that is just as likely to be described as a classic, an ambitious misfire, and one of the worst films ever made by any three people who watch it together. This is because the Daniels have made a film that is both a labor of love and a work of sheer arrogant nerve. I’m curious as to how many movies you can say that about.
For more personality quizzes check this: The Meddler Quiz.
