Swiss Army Man

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***SPOILERS***



Hello all! I recently watched Swiss Army Man, suggested by my brother, and I think I have an idea about what the ending meant but I just wanted to see if anyone else agreed.

I believe Hank was never lost at sea and always in her backyard, I think he was a stalker. Hank had come to terms with feeling like he did not belong in society and was going to kill himself and did find the body and through that journey found himself, but I don't think he was ever stranded. After the whole backyard fiasco they find his stuff in the woods, but I think he had been living there longer than when we saw him there with Manny. The movie then ends on a beach, so he didn't necessarily have to be on an island in the begin, he just walked all the way through the woods. Does anyone else think this is plausible?



Ok, I think I only tipped the iceberg, I think he was a full blown schizophrenic. I believe he stalked her, accepted he would never have her, and then tried to kill himself by jumping off the bridge and then hanging himself where we first see him. He makes multiple comments about being "crazy" and "hallucinating from starvation". He was just a crazy man who lived in the woods with his corpse behind the house of the girl he was obsessed with.



I heard this was leaving Netflix around the end of the month (the 29th, specifically, if this post spurs you to watch it), and I remembered that Swiss Army Man was on my list (I don't always remember why I added something, but usually if it's on there I've decided it's worth a look). So I watched it last night.

I'm...kinda blown away? It's got issues, but geez, I really got sucked into it, and the degree of difficulty on tone is off-the-charts. We're talking Forrest Gump levels of tonal risk here. It was genuinely sweet, genuinely funny, and genuinely insightful at times. And it might be my new go-to example for the way movies simply ask that you accept their central premise and need only work within that premise to feel internally coherent.

The central conceit of having someone be taught like a child, but with the intelligence of an adult so they can adequately question norms of behavior, is very smart, and leads to some of the funniest moments (nearly all of which are based in that, and not the body humor, which to the film's credit it doesn't really lean on).

I don't really have strong opinions about how literal any of it is or whether we're supposed to accept that Hank was delusional or what have you. I don't think it matters, at all. This film is definitely not a puzzle to be solved. Normally I'm all about those interpretations, about the puzzle aspect, but once the film was over it barely mattered to me. I was along for the ride, even if that ride was on Daniel Radcliffe's back surfing on his flatulance.



Post epilogue: I had a vague memory of adding it because someone I admired was involved, but searching the cast and crew I don't see anything obvious. The directors ("Daniels" is how they're credited, just because they're two guys named Daniel who work together, which is pretty adorable) have done some individual episodes of TV shows I like, but that's it. Best guess, it's the fact that Shane Carruth has a very small part. That might've been just weird enough to make me add it.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I'll try this one again then. I started it some time back, but I couldn't make it past the flatulate wave runner. I think I had pretty high expectations at the time from what I was reading about it. Maybe those expectations were unrealistic. It's been a while, so maybe I can see it for what it is this time around. Nice bump, and warning on Netflix.
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I'll try this one again then. I started it some time back, but I couldn't make it past the flatulate wave runner.
I think it starts a little slow, and that opening is definitely bizarre...but it got much more entertaining/funny very shortly after. The center third of the movie is kinda sublime.



I remember enjoying this film quite alot more than I expected. The idea that this lost teenager finds himself again, after being given the tools to do so (like a swiss army knife innit).

I'm probably way off though.



Even I liked this movie! "Weird, but likable. You will believe a dead man can be a best friend. Or at least I did." CR
I reviewed it too, here at MoFo...well you guys know how to find the reviews if you want to read it.




That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Ok. I finished this last night. Looks like I only made it about 9 minutes in, my first effort. I found myself distracted a few times and had to force myself to stay focused on it when I caught that I was drifting. That said, there were some very lovely scenes (as Yoda mentioned in the middle third) that were emotionally sweet, innocent, and sadly relatable. I would hope that if one can get past the delusion of it all, then the idea that we are all just in need of being accepted/needed in one degree or another would be recognized and granted for us all as a common binder, easing our judgments on others and the self. A step back from that, hopefully, one might see how those degrees can be extremely different from our own, to use as a jumping point in recognizing that whatever we are experiencing could be infinitely better (or worse) than the person next to us---as we sometimes judge others for being imperfect to whatever our internal standards are and other times judge ourselves for not living up to what we incorrectly perceive others' standards might be. It's all a very deep and painful mirror to look into, and I think this movie's art direction really pulled off something remarkable.

That said, I feel the movie carried an unnecessary burden of bloat (no pun intended) in dragging (again, no intended pun cuz 'bear') a few scenes out for far too long. I mean, specifically, the two bear encounters (I think these could have been removed completely, as they seemed to only be there to move our characters into the next scene); the few flashbacks of falling, particularly while in the tree near the end (this, to me, kept hinting of a flash-before-your-eyes kind of play throwing back to the opening suicide attempt, but never really landed or clarified what these scenes' connections were, just blurring things more. I could dismiss this as such is the mind of a schizophrenic, but that seems too superficial given how considerate other parts of this movie are presented); and the final scene as we follow Hank back to the beach (while it was a nice reality confirmation to see the officers and family stumble upon Hank's obsessive world, all of that was undercut by bringing everyone directly into his delusion by having Manny do what he did. Others responded to what was happening, not just Hank. Why open that doorway at all?).

In my opinion, this could have been trimmed by at least 20 minutes and may have provided a much tighter whole. Though some of these details shown in these scenes would have been missed, I feel those few bits are not worth the risk of distraction to the viewer. That, and if the story was shortened, the density of its whole would have been far more compelling and emotional. At least I think so.

I really enjoyed the initial dialogue between Hank and Manny. The "relearning" of the character, and subtly forcing the audience to lower our guard so that we, too, can relearn whatever this movie is trying to tell us. I don't mean that dismissively. I get (at least what I feel to be) the message. Or a message. I just meant that in those opening scenes, we do not yet know what we are experiencing. And that was pleasantly disarming, and is an incredibly inventive tactic to access what so many of us guard. In that music was used in such a weirdly universal way in the first third, I was disappointed that that motif seemed abandoned so quickly. I think had that carried over further through the film, then that would have softened the edges of what, to me, are very distinct thirds of a movie experience (I don't mean acts, but of three concepts). Having more of a carryover like the singing of music and other movie themes might have helped blend them more, reminding us where we started as an audience keeping us anchored, if you will, while we journey through Hank's reality. A lifeline of sorts.. Jurassic Park was referenced again during the movie date scene, but as a different media and its reference there did not have the same punch as the musical bits did within the first third of the story. The final third was even more divided into at least two disconnected parts that I more or less noted earlier.

I loved the concept. I love the details, particularly in the middle portion while Hank is teaching Manny about love and life experience. We see Hank's purity here, though he is obviously a risk to himself and likely to others around him. He is still innocent and just wants what everyone wants and struggles to communicate that need. Again, we all do in different degrees, but in how simply these ideas were translated on screen was quite disarmingly charming and makes me wonder how many viewers did not realize this until after the experience had already happened. I have to respect that, for all that I've ever written in poetry, story, or music, Swiss Army Man just does it efficiently. I should love this movie too, but I don't. I respect it greatly and recognize its attempts, and I offer it praise for those efforts. Unfortunately, I think it missed a greater potential drifting off onto itself one too many times.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I meant to address this but I'm not going back to add this as it doesn't really fit now. How did the news camera man recognize Hank at the end just before the interview?

I'm just gonna @Yoda here cuz this page may not get viewed for a while



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I'm not sure I remember that, even though I just saw this, or maybe I interpreted something differently.
In honor of Hank, I'll be paranoid and spoiler tag this!
WARNING: "stuff" spoilers below
After he and Manny reach the woman's home, and after she calls the police, we eventually cut to Hank with a blanket over his shoulders. There was a lot going on here. A medical team was bagging Manny, the mother had her daughter in hand. Hank's father was walking to view the body that he was told is his son. Officers were probably directing traffic in the background. Various people were shown speaking to Hank in a rush. One was the news reporter trying to set up her shot.

At some point during all of this, the news camera guy lowers his camera and says something to the effect of, "Hey. I know you from somewhere." I believe he repeated that maybe two more times during the sequence. It was all a bit chaotic, probably to show how Hank was having troubles taking everything in, but the camera guy drifted off muttering to himself about knowing Hank's character from somewhere. I believe even Hank responded to say that he didn't know him.

He might have seen photos on his phone and didn't make that connection in that everyone assumed the phone belonged to the dead guy, Manny. I don't THINK that's the reason, as why would camera guy have access to the phone in police custody at that point? And later, the officers show the photos to the mother for the first time in that the photos were of her at her home. My guess is that was the first time anyone really had a chance to bother looking through the phone.

Of course my details are off. I don't have the clip in front of me, but it was clear enough to get my attention and wonder what I had missed from somewhere else in the movie. Maybe some story Hank told Manny. I have no idea.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I know that's a silly thing to get hung up on, but it's totally nagging at me now!



Oh. Was it...

WARNING: "Swiss Army Man" spoilers below
...after he saw him on the phone or something?

If not, then I guess it's a nod towards a likely intended interpretation, but if so I'm not sure off the top of my head what that would be.



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
Great movie, one of the best depictions of friendship I've seen in a while.
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