I recently watched Swiss Army Man and wasn't quite sure about the ending at first. The only thing, that was clear to me: I would have ended the movie the same way and it made sense, but why? I dismissed my first thought, that the directors just wanted to fuck with us, pretty quickly, because the movie is full of symbolism and thought-through; the ending had to be as well.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The movie is centered around Hank, who's about to kill himself in the beginning of the movie. The first few shots show us silent cries for help written on trash floating aimlessly in the endless ocean, only thereafter to show us an deserted island, where we next get introduced to Hank in the very moment before his attempt to hang himself. It can't get more metaphorical, than to introduce a suicidal main character on an deserted island in the middle of the ocean.
Most people pay little attention to the opening of a movie, although they usually tell us (at least in art house movies...) everything we need to know and what's about to happen. Let's take 2001: A space odyssey for example. While most people just see the sun, the earth and the moon in the beginning, it actually tells us from it's perspective and the way it's shot, that this movie is about humanity as a whole, portrayed from an outside perspective. Of course, there's a lot more to be said about the opening of 2001 but this should give you a glimpse, that there's often a deeper meaning to what you see. Other great examples are the opening of Melancholia and The Prestige by the way, the later showing us the whole climax of the movie without us noticing.
Let's go back to Swiss Army Man. There is way too much going on in the ending scene, so I'm just going to explain why the break that happens, which makes the ending ambiguous and unsatisfying for many, makes sense. Right before the break, the directors leave the metaphorical level and show us, that everything that happend has been a product of Hanks mind. Manny (= mannequin/manifestation), was indeed a dead corpse all along, that has been dragged through the forest by the severly mentally ill Hank.
This is way too dark of an ending and diminishes all the messages, the movie had presented thus far. Like Hank, who was too shy to ever talk to Sarah, the directors shy away from ending the movie this way as well. By letting us go back into the magical fantasy world, which leaves us with a more positive feeling after the movie has ended, the directors further underline the social critisism that has been stated throughout the movie, by showing that they themselves are not in any way better. Like the beginning already told us, the disclosed events of the ending are not to be taken literally.
That's at least my explanation of the higher concept for the ending, disregarding all the conveyed messages within the scene.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The movie is centered around Hank, who's about to kill himself in the beginning of the movie. The first few shots show us silent cries for help written on trash floating aimlessly in the endless ocean, only thereafter to show us an deserted island, where we next get introduced to Hank in the very moment before his attempt to hang himself. It can't get more metaphorical, than to introduce a suicidal main character on an deserted island in the middle of the ocean.
Most people pay little attention to the opening of a movie, although they usually tell us (at least in art house movies...) everything we need to know and what's about to happen. Let's take 2001: A space odyssey for example. While most people just see the sun, the earth and the moon in the beginning, it actually tells us from it's perspective and the way it's shot, that this movie is about humanity as a whole, portrayed from an outside perspective. Of course, there's a lot more to be said about the opening of 2001 but this should give you a glimpse, that there's often a deeper meaning to what you see. Other great examples are the opening of Melancholia and The Prestige by the way, the later showing us the whole climax of the movie without us noticing.
Let's go back to Swiss Army Man. There is way too much going on in the ending scene, so I'm just going to explain why the break that happens, which makes the ending ambiguous and unsatisfying for many, makes sense. Right before the break, the directors leave the metaphorical level and show us, that everything that happend has been a product of Hanks mind. Manny (= mannequin/manifestation), was indeed a dead corpse all along, that has been dragged through the forest by the severly mentally ill Hank.
This is way too dark of an ending and diminishes all the messages, the movie had presented thus far. Like Hank, who was too shy to ever talk to Sarah, the directors shy away from ending the movie this way as well. By letting us go back into the magical fantasy world, which leaves us with a more positive feeling after the movie has ended, the directors further underline the social critisism that has been stated throughout the movie, by showing that they themselves are not in any way better. Like the beginning already told us, the disclosed events of the ending are not to be taken literally.
That's at least my explanation of the higher concept for the ending, disregarding all the conveyed messages within the scene.
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