Came across a post I didn't publish... (long)
...in December, about how I had seen this amazing movie, Swiss Army Man. I felt the way I did when I saw House's Head/Wilson's Heart. When I saw the latter, from the get-go I was seeing something I had never seen before, and that was it, hooked, even as the show groaned to its over-timely end. After I saw SAM, over the ensuing days I couldn't stop thinking about it. Also, I have a new OTP (although House/Wilson are my forever OTP).
Not only is it funny, it's crazy, sweet, puerile and unexpectedly deep. Paul Dano as Hank and Daniel Radcliffe as dead Manny are spectacular. There is tremendous chemistry between the two actors, who are pretty much the whole show until the end. The Daniels, first-time feature directors, use deliberately low-tech effects (and real forest animals) to ground the film in physical reality. In an interview, Radcliffe said the film is not fantasy, it's magical realism. Which is a great description. It won the Best Directing Prize at Sundance, and is up for Best Directing and Best Editing at the Independent Spirit Awards, the indie Oscars. The cinematography is beautiful.
Stranded on a desert island, Hank is about to commit suicide when a corpse washes up on the beach. The corpse starts farting, and the farts propel the corpse through the water. Hank grabs a robe, jumps on the corpse and rides him like a jet-ski. At this point, the credits come up, and goddamn if it that isn't a perfect way to introduce something that asks so much of your imagination.
Hank labors to get home, the corpse strapped to his back. The dead man, named Manny, slowly comes to life. He has many powers that keep Hank alive: Human water canteen, machine gun, axe and most important, an erection that guides the two home. (It's not in the trailer of course.)
Hank sees the magic boner
Daniel Radcliffe does 75% of his acting using only his face and eyes. He can't move of his own volition from the neck down. (This results in a lot of priceless slapstick.) Manny is slurred and slow, becoming more articulate as the film goes on. Hank is caught up in teaching Manny what the world is, what love is, what feelings are. Paul Dano excels at creating a societal outcast who's more complicated than we think.
Manny sees a picture of a beautiful woman on Hank's cell phone, Sarah and declares that's why they have to get 'home'. Hank and Manny's friendship becomes a bond, and eventually a romantic one, as Hank dresses as "Sarah" to try to jog Manny's memory of his life. He reenacts the only flashback we see, Hank sitting on the bus, alone. Only this time, Hank dresses as Sarah, leading Manny through sitting next to "Sarah" and holding her hand.
Sarah/Hank blend more as the story goes along. Manny says, "maybe love is bringing me to life". Hank creates a world for them to live in, with a sort of house, a car, even a makeshift bus. One night, they both get drunk and throw a "party". Hank helps Manny to dance by making puppet strings out of vines for him and acting as the puppeteer. Manny demands to talk to Sarah. Hank puts on the wig, and leans to kiss Manny, who falls over. They put it down to intoxication.
Later in the film, Hank crawls across a water pipe, Manny strapped to his back. The pipe they're on breaks and they are plunged into the river far below. Underwater, Hank sees Manny drifting down. Hank swims down, grabs Manny, and kisses him. This is interspersed with shots of "Sarah" and Manny echoing Hank's gestures.
Manny is happy, and air pours out of his mouth. Hank realizes it, and continues to kiss him, the quiet sound of breathing the only thing we hear as they drift downward into the darkness. Then the cork comes bobbing to the surface. As the triumphant "River Rocket" song plays, they fly up into the air, ecstatic.
There's still a lot that happens, but I'm going to skip it 'cause this is already WAY too long. The final section abruptly changes tone and becomes jarring. The ending reveals that Manny is not a figment of Hank's imagination. Hank is left alone, and I don't know how you're supposed to feel about it. One of the directors said, "the first fart makes you laugh and the last fart makes you cry". I cried, but goddamn it, in rom-coms the leads end up together! No fair!
Andrew Hull of the band Manchester Orchestra scored the film, which is entirely aceppella. The two leads do most of the singing, both onscreen and in the score, along with the composer. The score is dozens of voice tracks layered over each other, the percussion sticks and other things found in nature. Dano played Brian Wilson in Love and Mercy and it's easy to hear his silvery falsetto.
So, Hank and Manny are my latest otp, which is why I have been obsessively writing fic about them. flywoman didn't enjoy the movie much. Jeff hated it, saying it "traumatized" him! He was furious at me for the next day or two. He won't explain why, although toward the end he broke down and cried like a baby. My mom followed it okay, and when Jeff asked her what she thought, the only thing she said was, "Wow." She hasn't said anything else to me, other than she was surprised to see tears in my eyes at the end. There are only a few fanfics about Hank and Manny, which is surprising, because the movie got tons of positive reviews on imdb and there are quite a few posts about it on Tumblr.
So now you know what I've been writing about and why. Has anyone else seen it?
Not only is it funny, it's crazy, sweet, puerile and unexpectedly deep. Paul Dano as Hank and Daniel Radcliffe as dead Manny are spectacular. There is tremendous chemistry between the two actors, who are pretty much the whole show until the end. The Daniels, first-time feature directors, use deliberately low-tech effects (and real forest animals) to ground the film in physical reality. In an interview, Radcliffe said the film is not fantasy, it's magical realism. Which is a great description. It won the Best Directing Prize at Sundance, and is up for Best Directing and Best Editing at the Independent Spirit Awards, the indie Oscars. The cinematography is beautiful.
Click to viewStranded on a desert island, Hank is about to commit suicide when a corpse washes up on the beach. The corpse starts farting, and the farts propel the corpse through the water. Hank grabs a robe, jumps on the corpse and rides him like a jet-ski. At this point, the credits come up, and goddamn if it that isn't a perfect way to introduce something that asks so much of your imagination.
Hank labors to get home, the corpse strapped to his back. The dead man, named Manny, slowly comes to life. He has many powers that keep Hank alive: Human water canteen, machine gun, axe and most important, an erection that guides the two home. (It's not in the trailer of course.)
Hank sees the magic boner
Daniel Radcliffe does 75% of his acting using only his face and eyes. He can't move of his own volition from the neck down. (This results in a lot of priceless slapstick.) Manny is slurred and slow, becoming more articulate as the film goes on. Hank is caught up in teaching Manny what the world is, what love is, what feelings are. Paul Dano excels at creating a societal outcast who's more complicated than we think.
Manny sees a picture of a beautiful woman on Hank's cell phone, Sarah and declares that's why they have to get 'home'. Hank and Manny's friendship becomes a bond, and eventually a romantic one, as Hank dresses as "Sarah" to try to jog Manny's memory of his life. He reenacts the only flashback we see, Hank sitting on the bus, alone. Only this time, Hank dresses as Sarah, leading Manny through sitting next to "Sarah" and holding her hand.
Sarah/Hank blend more as the story goes along. Manny says, "maybe love is bringing me to life". Hank creates a world for them to live in, with a sort of house, a car, even a makeshift bus. One night, they both get drunk and throw a "party". Hank helps Manny to dance by making puppet strings out of vines for him and acting as the puppeteer. Manny demands to talk to Sarah. Hank puts on the wig, and leans to kiss Manny, who falls over. They put it down to intoxication.
Later in the film, Hank crawls across a water pipe, Manny strapped to his back. The pipe they're on breaks and they are plunged into the river far below. Underwater, Hank sees Manny drifting down. Hank swims down, grabs Manny, and kisses him. This is interspersed with shots of "Sarah" and Manny echoing Hank's gestures.
Manny is happy, and air pours out of his mouth. Hank realizes it, and continues to kiss him, the quiet sound of breathing the only thing we hear as they drift downward into the darkness. Then the cork comes bobbing to the surface. As the triumphant "River Rocket" song plays, they fly up into the air, ecstatic.
There's still a lot that happens, but I'm going to skip it 'cause this is already WAY too long. The final section abruptly changes tone and becomes jarring. The ending reveals that Manny is not a figment of Hank's imagination. Hank is left alone, and I don't know how you're supposed to feel about it. One of the directors said, "the first fart makes you laugh and the last fart makes you cry". I cried, but goddamn it, in rom-coms the leads end up together! No fair!
Andrew Hull of the band Manchester Orchestra scored the film, which is entirely aceppella. The two leads do most of the singing, both onscreen and in the score, along with the composer. The score is dozens of voice tracks layered over each other, the percussion sticks and other things found in nature. Dano played Brian Wilson in Love and Mercy and it's easy to hear his silvery falsetto.
So, Hank and Manny are my latest otp, which is why I have been obsessively writing fic about them. flywoman didn't enjoy the movie much. Jeff hated it, saying it "traumatized" him! He was furious at me for the next day or two. He won't explain why, although toward the end he broke down and cried like a baby. My mom followed it okay, and when Jeff asked her what she thought, the only thing she said was, "Wow." She hasn't said anything else to me, other than she was surprised to see tears in my eyes at the end. There are only a few fanfics about Hank and Manny, which is surprising, because the movie got tons of positive reviews on imdb and there are quite a few posts about it on Tumblr.
So now you know what I've been writing about and why. Has anyone else seen it?