He may have been ‘Harry Potter’ for a generation of fans who thrilled to his stand against Voldemort, but Daniel Radcliffe’s latest role is another matter of life and death…
Swiss Army Man was featured at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and will be distributed in a limited release on 24th June (before being released nationwide on 1st July). Best known for his role as the protagonist in the Harry Potter franchise, Daniel Radcliffe plays a less heroic, but no less magical role in this ‘existential absurdest comedy’: he’s a a drowned corpse.
In the film, Radcliffe’s lifeless body is found, washed up on the shore, by Hank (Paul Dano), a desperate man who is considering suicide after being marooned alone on a desert island. Hank names the corpse Manny and – after discovering Manny’s range of impossible abilities and superpowers – forms a surreal and touching friendship that inspires Hank to carry on living and surviving.
Swiss Army Man has received mixed reviews since its initial screening. Many critics hailing it an unexpected success and a light-hearted comedy that doesn’t take itself too seriously. On the other hand, the bold ‘experiment in film’ left some viewers feeling disgusted and offended. With an abundance of flatulence and rude humour, it is hardly surprising that some viewers felt they were unable to stomach the movie. There were even reports that the film’s bawdy and crude nature caused some spectators to walk out of the screening at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Radcliffe expressed his surprise to learn that people walked out, telling Entertainment Weekly that the body humour and jokes are ‘held together [in] a really beautiful, profound, reflective movie.’
Radcliffe is joined by many critics who praised the ‘obscurity’ of the film which – apparently – ‘exists in a space without judgement, where social conventions are inverted and the fragility of human nature is exposed‘.
Directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan (aka ‘the Daniels’) won Best Director / Directing award in the US Dramatic category at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. It will be interesting to see a wider audience reaction to the finished film…
