Swiss Army Man declares its defiant strangeness in its opening scene, in which Pacific island castaway Hank (Paul Dano) is just about to hang himself when he spies a corpse (Daniel Radcliffe) washed up on the beach. A very flatulent corpse, it turns out. The cadaver’s prodigious expulsions of gas enable Hank to, um, ride it like a malodorous jet ski to the mainland. Once back ashore, Hank is still hopelessly lost in the coastal forest wilds of California. Fortunately, the numerous miraculous powers exhibited by the deceased Manny—as the corpse wheezily identifies itself, much to Hank’s shock—include dispensing fresh drinking water and pointing the way home with his (ahem) built-in compass needle.
Despite Swiss Army Man’s fascination with bodily functions, writer-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Schienert (credit as “Daniels”) aren’t merely aiming for gross-out humor or impish irreverence. Rather astonishingly, the film is revealed as an intensely earnest dramedy about the search for identity, happiness, and emotional connection. The dissonance between the film’s scatological fairy tale premise and its utterly heartfelt depiction of self-loathing, loneliness, and confusion (both social and sexual) makes it a challenging work, to say the least. The kaleidoscopic tone is reflected in the film’s off-kilter aesthetic, which improbably blends hyperkinetic wackiness, handmade preciousness, and the sun-drenched dreaminess of a Michel Gondry or Spike Jonze feature.
Stay up-to-date with the local arts scene
Subscribe to the weekly St. Louis Arts+Culture newsletter to discover must-attend art exhibits, performances, festivals, and more.
The film’s sheer novelty and unmistakable queer subtext practically guarantee its future fate as a divisive cult feature with passionate defenders. Certainly, it’s a mad but fascinating experiment within the framework of narrative filmmaking, and also a work that delves into prickly, rarely-confronted issues like dysmorphia, gender fluidity, and asexuality. Whether a viewer will find Swiss Army Man ludicrous or touching is likely a matter of idiosyncratic personal taste, more so than any other recent theatrical release.
Swiss Army Man opens in wide release on Friday, July 1.
