Dead Dan

Sometimes in life, there are things that are difficult to comprehend and events that are almost beyond words. Today's film is one of those occurences. This is Swiss Army Man.

Hank (Paul Dano) is at the end of his tether. He is marooned on an island with no food, nowhere to go, and no sign of rescue. The camera pans down a rope to his face, a noose fastened around his neck, and he surveys the hopelessness of his situation. Then just before he kicks the stool out from beneath him, he notices a corpse (Daniel Radcliffe) on the beach which is passing wind powerfully enough to propel it through the water. Cue an ingenious plan to use the corpse as a jet ski and as Hank hurtles forward on the corpse, the narrative follows suite. We follow Hank and the corpse (later named Manny) as they discover new things about Manny's exceptional body and then bound, roll, drag, and fart through the forest trying to find civilisation; the results are spellbinding.

It is hard to know where to start with Swiss Army Man; there is something special and unique about it whilst also being hugely referential with massive pop-culture influences. It seamlessly blends together crude comedy and heartfelt moments that are exceedingly touching. Dano, known for his strength as a troubled individual (Little Miss Sunshine), really shines here. This is, after all, his journey and we instantly captivated by his story. He is the worm and Radcliffe's Manny, with his limitlessly skilled body, is the hook. Together, they drag you into their tale of friendship, fellowship, of life and death. Radcliffe's performance too cannot be understated. This is one of the finest physical comedic performances in years. The strength of the two leads may even force you to shed a tear of sadness, and they are guaranteed to bring on fits of laughter.

Swiss Army Man is gloriously grotesque but disgustingly delightful. Chuckles turn to belly laughs, belly laughs turn to tears. For a film about a farting corpse that wants to understand pooping and masturbation, Swiss Army Man is surprisingly philosophical and thought provoking. Veiled beneath the crude humour is a deep analysis of societal norms and the nature of life and living and, strangely enough, it is almost impossible to imagine a better vehicle for the topic at hand. Directors Dan Kwan, and Daniel Scheinert take films like Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life and, along with their superb script, drags them through the digestion track of cinema and excrete something magical and special. With a powerful and moving acapella soundtrack, often originating as diegetic singing, the film overwhelms the senses in the best way possible. It is hard to imagine anything like Swiss Army Man  existing again and it's difficult to recall anything like it existing before. 

There is something special here. It is stupid but intellectual, crude but beautiful. Whilst some have found the ending a bit jarring, the journey more than justifies it. You have to see it to believe it.

Django In Chains

History is a wonderful beginning step for film making. There is undoubtedly something truly exciting about experiencing the past in a visual medium, happy or sad. The latter emotion is definitely more prominent in many historical films, like today's film. This is 12 Years a Slave.

Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a free black man, a talented violin player, and a loving father and husband. He lives a simple life until, one day, he is kidnapped after two men offer him a job playing violin. From his kidnapping, he is sold into slavery (by a horrible Paul Giamatti) to the gentle and respectable Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch). But things go from bad to worse when sadistic rancher Tibeats (Paul Dano) starts to have it out for Northup, now called Platt, leaving Ford no choice but to sell him on again, despite the bond they have formed. This time Solomon ends up with brutal Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender) and befriends Patsy (Lupita Nyong'o), a young slave girl hated by Epps' wife (Sarah Paulson) and sexually abused by Epps. Based on Northup's own memoirs, 12 Years a Slave is an unrelenting and horribly realistic portrayal of slavery.

Swag: noun - The above photo.

Ejiofor, who reportedly originally turned the role down, is on top form in 12 Years a Slave. His portrayal of a man who has his life destroyed so completely and so quickly is devastating and yet always hopeful. From his first signs of resistance - I don't want to survive. I want to live - all the way through his torturous ordeal in slavery, the viewer is forced to remain as strong as Solomon. Northup only breaks occasionally, normally trying to make the best of his surroundings, but when the emotions rise, Ejiofor's ability truly shines through. A master of both subtlety and the explicit. Matching him is the glorious Nyong'o. As Patsy, she shows she capable of an incredible range of performance, especially for her feature film debut. Unlike the bigger, more explicit characters like Fassbender's Epps, Dano's Tibeats, or even Ejiofor's Northup, Patsy is introduced as a quiet reserved girl around the greatest horrors in the world - rape, violence, even being disallowed to clean. Nyong's subtle pain, inner sorrow, and plain emptiness is heart wrenching, to say the least. Also of note is Fassbender's Epps. A truly horrific man that forces his slaves to dance for him and he takes what he wants, primarily Patsy. He holds nothing back, giving a true punch with his performance, sometimes literally.

Epps just loved to show off his guns...

Steve McQueen, of Shame and Hunger fame, is not known for his easy viewing. His films say something, and it is not nice. Sexual addiction, starvation, and now, slavery. Teaming up with John Ridley, McQueen brings something painfully real to the big screen. Northup's ordeal was a historical event and, even if details have been changed, that realism is constantly reminded you that this actually happened. McQueen brings it to life brutally, emphasising moments that are designed to make us, the viewer, uncomfortable. A horribly extended hanging scene whilst the normal ranch life continues in the background, a whipping scene where the camera does not cut for around four minutes, a stunned silence after a vase is thrown directly into a slave's face. These moments are engineered by McQueen and his team to highlight the horrible nature of human kind. It is not trying to guilt trip white Americans, it is not placing blame, it is simply demonstrating monsters as they are. It is story telling in its purest form: powerful and completely unforgiving.

A moving piece of cinema that tells the tale of hope and humanity. The way Steve McQueen shows the true horror of the slave trade is forceful but unbiased. It is simply truthful story telling. One of 2013's finest achievements in film.

Best Bit? Certainly the most memorable moments are those that force discomfort in the viewer. The whipping, the hanging. Such power and next to no dialogue needed.