As far back as the fifth century B.C., one of the characters of the Greek playwright Aristophanes stated: "My wind is not frankincense." Later, in the same spirit, the American polymath Benjamin Franklin admitted: "It is universally known that in digesting our common food there is created or produced in the bowels of human creatures, a great quantity of wind." Passing gas, breaking wind, or farting may be natural but nowhere is this behavior seen as socially acceptable.
Fans of films exploring the weird, the bizarre, and the macabre are always on the lookout for creative insights into subject matter that is deemed as taboo. The two Daniels — Daniel Scheinert and Dan Kwan — are the directors and writers of Swiss Army Man. This buddy flick goes where no one has gone before in the exploration of such body functions as farts, poop, masturbation, and other forms of sexual arousal.
Those who are troubled and embarrassed by farts in public places will likely recoil at the many loud and continual sounds of passing gas in this strange movie. Of course, children are the not the only ones who find farting to be funny. The Daniels share their positive response to this body function and reveal that it can be affirmed as an expression of the human condition and thus worthy of respect instead of scorn.
Hank (Paul Dano) is a frazzled young man who is stranded on a tiny island somewhere. He has run out of the energy and the will power to survive and so he sets out to hang himself. He hopes that as he dies, his whole life will flash by him and he will be able to see that it was worth living. But then in the midst of this grim business, he sees a corpse wash up on the beach. He decides to check it out.
The body (Daniel Radcliffe) turns out to be filled with gas. As a long stream of farts are emitted, Hank climbs on top of it and finds himself propelled across the ocean. Landing on a beach, Hank discovers that the body is not only still alive, it is named Manny. Hank sets out to find civilization, carrying his new friend with him.
Manny proves to be very helpful. He provides fountains of water from his mouth. He helps with hunting food and finding shelter. In grateful response, Hank explains the joys and setbacks of love and sex. We see, in flashback, his attraction to a woman he sees on a bus, Sarah (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), whose picture is on his cell phone. When Manny falls in love with her, Hank dons a dress and wig and plays her in various situations.
Swiss Army Man turns out to be a multidimensional movie with its focus on taboo subjects, its homoerotic intimations, and its defense of zeal as a passion for a life where nothing is excluded or left out. Dano and Radcliffe do a commendable job mirroring the loneliness and lack of self-esteem which drag down both characters. But they are revivified by the truth which sets them free as they share a journey that ends well.