Be Reel: Swiss Army Man

     "A farting corpse, really?" was probably the initial response of most who had the chance to see Swiss Army Man when it debuted at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), the directors behind the "Turn Down For What" music video, the movie was shot over a period of 22 days and received mixed reviews from both audiences and critics. Upon the movie's initial screening, some of the audience even walked out before the film was halfway over because they already they disliked the film so much.The film tells the story of Hank, a man stranded on an island, who's  given up on life and the hope of being rescued, and his unexpected meeting with a farting corpse. As the plot progresses Manny (the corpse) becomes more animated, eventually being able to hold conversations, and together they try to find their way back to civilization.
     I think this is an objectively good film because of the various elements and choices that went into the production. For instance, the movie does an excellent job of gradually transitioning from the dreary tone and grey color scheme of the opening scene, to the lush world of the forest around them. Although the movie occasionally brings up serious topics, it also has an abundance of humor to balance out the tone. One of the main examples of humor used is fart jokes, via Manny's corpse expelling gas every few minutes. While this humor is commonly frowned upon and seen as 'scrapping the bottom of the barrel', the film takes the moral high ground by instead using it to advance their relationship and incorporating it into a major theme of the story.
     Through the developing friendship between Hank and Manny, the film touches on the influence of companionship and gives insight on the importance of expressing yourself. A major component of this film's success was the strong performances by Paul Dano (Hank) and Daniel Radcliffe (Manny). Despite Radcliffe playing the role of a barely communicative corpse for a majority of the movie, he gave one of his best performances and was able to show a range of emotions without the aid of body language or perfect speech. Dano also had great chemistry with Radcliffe, which the film heavily relied upon, due to them being the only main characters for most of the movie.
    After viewing this film for the first time, I was immediately taken by the fantastic cinematography and likable characters that were relatable and easy to root for. My favorite thing about this film is how wildly creative the concept and soundtrack of the film are and how effectively they weaved their way into the tone and theme of the movie. While a capella is something I'll occasionally listen to, especially if it's a barbershop quartet (which admittedly is pretty cheesy, but gosh dang it so am I), the soundtrack fully utilizes it, which made also made this my favorite movie soundtrack. The faint, accompanying instrumental of a few songs add to the music's quality, I think it's the heavy use of a capella by Dano and Radcliffe that set it apart from almost every other film. This movie wormed its way into my heart because of the amount of care and work that went into such a small production that manages to ooze charm in every scene.
     I'd highly suggest this film to anyone who's willing to immerse themselves in a seemingly outlandish plot and see the deeper meaning behind it.
                                                 
Swiss Army Man Trailer: