Swiss Army Man premiered the first day of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, Jan. 22. UPROXX describes this movie as “weird” at best. This film was written and directed by Daniel Scheinert and Dan Kwan.

The festival guide had described the movie as a man, by himself, on a small island whose name is Hank. He has lost all hope of getting off the island. But when a corpse washes up on the shore he sees it as his last chance to get home.

Here is a description of a scene from UPROXX: Paul Dano, who plays Hank in Swiss Army Man, rides a dead body, played by Daniel Radcliffe, as a jet ski. The jet ski is “powered” by farts coming from the corpse. (UPROXX states, there are many farts in this film). This particular scene makes Dano appear as if he has conquered the universe, riding a farting corpse.

According to UPROXX, to say this film is polarized would be unpretentious at best. A stream of people walked out during the movie, but those who stayed laughed hard and often. UPROXX’s Mike Ryan reported frequently laughing, but admittedly was unsure why. Although, he says he laughs when he is not sure how he is supposed to react.

Swiss Army Man, opens with Hank stranded alone on an island. He is about to kill himself when he sees a man wash up on shore. At first, Hank is excited that he will no longer be alone on the island. However, he is devastated when he discovers the man has been dead awhile. Still, Hank makes a good effort at CPR, when the body begins to fart. Then Hank uses the corpse as a jet ski to get off the island.

The rest of the film involves Hank forming a relationship with his new friend, the dead corpse. Eventually, the dead man talks back to him. Is Hank hallucinating? Has he snapped, or has the body come back to life? Ryan says he has no idea and is not sure it matters to the movie. According to Ryan, Swiss Army Man was not created to “make sense.”

Virtue spoke with some of the people at the Sundance Film Festival who said the friendship, which was the central focus of the film, was rather profound. Then, Virtue compared it to a film that channels Michel Gondry’s inventiveness and the gross humor of the Garbage Pail Kids.

Ryan, from UPROXX, is pretty sure the movie is real and he did not dream it up. He added that not only does Dano ride Radcliffe’s corpse like a jet ski on fart fuel, Radcliffe’s body also shoots weapons from his mouth.

Vulture reports that in less than 24 hours, several people had asked one of the writers if he had seen the movie “where Daniel Radcliffe plays a farting corpse?” That is not all this movie has to offer, Dano is dressed as Mary Elizabeth Winstead and is seen making out with Radcliffe underwater. Radcliffe also vomits large amounts of water, which Dano chugs and Radcliffe gets an erection while looking at an old Sports Illustrated swimsuit magazine. Dano uses Radcliffe’s erection as a compass to find civilization once again.

However daring the film may be, Virtue claims this is one of Radcliffe’s more likable roles. This is despite his being a stiff corpse who says his lines out the side of his mouth or farting through the ocean.

Virtue’s Kyle Buchanan caught up with Radcliffe who seemed nearly ecstatic with what the music video directors Kwan and Scheinert were able to put together. Radcliffe stated that every day they were able to achieve the impossible. He also wanted it to be known that CGI and doubles were not used in Swiss Army Man, even when the corpse spits out weapons or plays the farting jet ski. He was very proud that it was “mostly” him, he was also quite happy with how dead he looks in the film.

Swiss Army Man is a low-budget movie, so Buchanan bravely asked Radcliffe how the erection worked. It has many close-ups in the movie, pointing the way home. Since the directors of the movie, also directed the Turn Down for What music video, they had plenty of penis experience. So Radcliffe believed he was literally, in good hands when it came to his erection.

They used a “mechanical boner rig,” then Radcliffe explained that one of the pieces he wore looked like a wooden “handle.” One long smooth piece.

Radcliffe says, “I see this film as being a triumph of creativity over practicality.”

By Jeanette Smith

Sources:

UPROXX: Daniel Radcliffe Plays A Dead Body That Farts In The Weirdest Movie At Sundance
Vulture: Daniel Radcliffe Explains His Erection (and His Wild New Sundance Movie)
Just Jared Jr: Daniel Radcliffe Takes ‘Swiss Army Man’ To Sundance Film Festival 2016
Image Courtesy of Schweiz-Russland’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License