I recently watched the 2016 film Swiss Army Man for the first time. My base line description of it is a fantastical, psycho-dramatic take on Castaway. I loved it.
I’ll only give the description provided by Netflix, which is where I watched it.
A washed-up corpse with surprising abilities gives a hopeless man stranded in the wilderness someone to talk to — and a newfound reason to live.
Now, this hardly does the movie justice, but it does give a hint as to what is going on. This movie interested me for two reasons: First, it explores what’s on the edge of our psyche and makes us question the notion of reality and sanity in extreme situations. Second, it provides an interesting take on the tabula rasa concept of humans as a blank slate upon which the world etches itself.
Whenever I see movies that involve immense isolation, or in an extreme example, real isolation, I always wonder how well I would fare. In the case of this movie, or a movie like Castaway, there is a matter of physical survival, and that of mental survival. I have a pretty good handle on my ability to survive in various environments, and it’s not great. I don’t think I’d do a great job creating makeshift shelters or finding food on a deserted island. So, I naturally go to general isolation. Given the basics are taken care of — there’s a freshwater stream, and enough available food — where do I go from there?
As with most people, I’d like to believe I would survive mentally just fine. I like math, so maybe I could spend enough time building up mathematics in my own way? I could keep my mind working enough to ward off mental decay and a descent into madness, so to speak. At the very least, I’d like to believe I’m capable of fending off hallucinations. I’m not sure I could avoid the charms of a volleyball, but kids also have stuffed animals, so I don’t consider that mental defense mechanism as problematic.
Despite that confidence, there is definitely a subprocess that acknowledges I’m almost certainly overconfident in my mental stamina. I think that’s why movies like this, or other shows that investigate when sanity is left behind, are so intriguing. We want to continue to test ourselves in a certain way, and this media can allow us to pretend we are in certain situations, and see how we react.
The other idea which was less focused on, but was the reason for the direct humor present in the movie, is how we explain the world to someone with no background, but the capability of intelligent thought. As Manny, the corpse, continues to learn about the world and ask questions, Hank, our protagonist, has to explain why trash exists, what different feelings and facial expressions are, and why different aspects of society exist how they do.
The result of this is similar to a Calvin and Hobbes comic, where surprisingly intelligent remarks are made by a character unconcerned with the nuances we all accept in polite society. It’s fun to consider where social cues come from, how we learn to suppress our reactions.
This movie is wonderful, charming, and dramatic in one of the best possible ways I’ve seen.