Swiss Army Man Themes

On January 22, 2016, directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert premiered their comedy-drama film, Swiss Army Man starring Paul Dano, and Daniel Radcliffe at the Sundance Film Festival. Critics have positively received the film written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. Swiss Army Man has received numerous accolades including, a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award Best Featured Film, and the Best Director award at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Although Swiss Army Man is a comedy about a flatulating corps, it has a very profound message encoded into its context. The movie Swiss Army Man seamlessly presents the power social restraints have on people’s self-image, and the shame associated with not fitting into society’s standards of normal. Swiss Army Man opens with Hank,
Manny can hold rainwater in his gut for Hank to drink; he can bite or karate chop through anything, he can ignite his farts with a snap of his stiffened fingers, but most of all Manny gives Hank a way to examine his humanity and place in society. Manny and Hank’s search for help soon becomes a journey to discover and work through life’s most challenging situations, and complex human emotions. Manny and Hank explore what family, love, friendship, social restraints, and what civilizations standards mean. Hank and Manny bond, as they form a strange culture for themselves, where their lives and their connection is excepted, loved, and perfectly normal. Manny forces Hank to face the pain of his socially rejected life, and Hank finds himself and what is truly important to him in the process.
The characters in Swiss Army Man impressively illustrate how social estrangement in regards to family, love life, and intrapersonal situations can lead people to believe they do not fit in with society. Before Hank became stranded and on the verge of suicide, he was a lonely outcast, he felt ugly, strange, and he lied to himself