For those who are confused about the ending of Swiss Army Man let me tell you my interpretation of the movie; this is just my opinion.
If we look at the first shot of the movie, we see Hank on an island in the middle of the sea. Now, in my interpretation this is not real, it is completely metaphorical although Hank may be trying to kill himself on the seaside (where he ends up after riding Manny as a jetski). It shows Hank's loneliness and escape from reality and society - which the whole movie is really about; loneliness and friendship. So Hank is on an island of loneliness surrounded by the sea, it is just him and for miles it will only be him - this is his state of mind, he has completely excluded himself from people. So, then Hank finds Manny washed up on shore - this really happened because when Manny is around other humans he doesn't walk or talk, apart from when he is around the little girl. Children are imaginative; they have imaginary friends and are confused - they don't really know what is real or not if you know what I mean, they haven't explored the world and don't have enough education to understand much of the world. This may be why Manny talks around him, Hank's state of psychosis (essentially a break from reality; if you really wanna understand what hank is going through watch Shutter Island; great film) means that Manny can talk around the little girl because she isn't old enough to understand the dead body is literally dead. So - about the ending - Manny flies away across the sea like a beautiful and fast jetski...WHAT? He is real?!?!
No. Manny is not real. As I explained, the start is a metaphor for Hank's loneliness and - well, in my interpretation; so is the end. Hank's starting point in the film is being lonely and having escaped society and people, once Hank finally connects back to society - whether that means being judged for his illness and appearing as a gay necrophile - he doesn't need Manny to guide him back. There is no more to the journey, so, Manny jetskis across the sea (i think Hank just let him wash away), Manny jetskiing is just Hank's imagination, we learn earlier on in the film that Hank was called names and bullied and his father wasn't too good of a person - along with his mother's death (the only person he could really trust - Hank had a break from reality, escaped society and due to his illness really thought he was going on an adventure with his best pal - who is dead.
Ask any questions, i might not be able to answer them because a lot of the film is ambiguos as we see everything from Hank's perspective (that's why this film is so fucking great; we hear the sound track that hank makes, see the colours he does when he meets manny etc) so yeah...
I think it's real. At the end, there is a terrible sobering moment where you're pulled away from the magical land of trust and farts and music to the reality that Hank has been lugging around a dead body. And you question it. Is Hank actually crazy? And the dread sets in as his dad and news crew and his girl react to the situation. Was he actually imagining all of this? Then he steals Manny away. And before it would have been normal but suddenly it's disgusting and pathetic. Manny no longer speaks. Hank has been delusional this whole time. They're on the beach and it's all coming to a close with the most important people in Hanks life. They all know he's insane and in a horrifying way. And then Manny farts. Gloriously. Sputtering and unbelievable, it's real. The girl sees it, the dad laughs. Others witness this magical act as Manny jettisons into the sunset on flatulants and dreams. It's beautiful and as quickly the movie turned, the relief comes back that the magical fart musical adventure was real. And it feels right.
I don't think it makes sense for the directors to have had this moment where we all doubt Hank is crazy then show us Manny is real and witnessed by others, for Hank to have just been crazy this whole time.
Or that's just how I took the movie. It was real. How? I don't know, ass magic? Don't care. Still loved it.
I think it’s all in the eyes of the beholder (which is 100% the point) and you did an amazing job describing what you thought. I personally took how the people reacted to manny farting away into the distance as how people reacted to Hank‘s true self and his new confidence in himself, no matter how “weird.” The dad laughs because no matter what others think he loves his son (even though the two of them had drifted apart it’s clear they still care, especially hank). The child not really reacting but showing interest when she first followed hank as he ran away with manny shows the innocent but curious perspective of the young. Finally all the onlookers going “What the Fuck” or looking confused and disgusted represent how society will always judge. But hank finally realizes he should love himself and not what society tells him to be, which is why he doesn’t care what they think and he smiles as manny farts into the distance.
What's great about this film is that many interpretations can be valid and be a part of the film. There are so many different things you could say the film are, and all of them would make sense.
I feel like that’s why it has such an great influence on many different people. The film builds an emotional connection with its audience in different ways to appeal to everyone in one way or another.
Yeah, I mean that is what they make you think, I would really like that ending either way tbh, it is much happier and in a way badass, the music kicks in and your like "oh shit" it's real. Hank has been right that whole time
All in all I see this as a story of self love. Hank imposed his consciousness on a dead body to learn how to deal with his deep issues insecurities that have excluded from society. The ending, I believe, is him finally taking that final leap and coming to terms with who he is, disregarding what others think. He is finally happy because he is content with the love he finds within. What makes this scene even more beautiful is the reactions received. Some people were still grossed out, the kid laughs, Sarah was still in a wtf state, but his dad smiled. In spite of still some rejection, he still is happy. His dad accepted him and showed it. I believe manny farting away is hank being ok with being who he is and all his weirdness.
Great interpretation too. Im kinda pissed off at a lot of people who watched the movie. They hated the ending and didn't care to think about it - i think a lot of viewers think Manny is real and so don't understand the other metaphors throughout the film, they are just pissed off that Manny and Hank can't be together - but whatever.
Honestly it took me many watches to build this interpretation. Each time I saw the movie it made more sense or I evolved my interpretation of it
This is how I took the film. Manny is Hanks subconscious trying to bring his true and capable self out of his own shell. For example, when they’re building things as a way to explain how the world works, Hank uses Manny as a tool to make these things and to have a better understanding of the world around him which he was capable of this entire time although he didn’t see it in himself. Manny is his mind that was no longer serving him, but coming back to life making him a self aware thinker again.
I really like this interpretation. Especially the last sentence. I pretty much agreed with your entire description but the last part was defensively something new to chew on haha
I watched this while going through what Hank went through and after searching for so many answers myself, this movie gave me exactly what I needed. It honestly freaked me out that this film fell into my lap while having a personal crisis. It also made me feel less alone because sometimes we all lose sight of who we are, we just have to dig deep to rediscover ourselves.
Late to the party by a few years, but just watched this.
I don't know if I think the magic farts are real or not...but I lean towards not. I do believe Hank's relationship to nature/survival and his manipulation of Manny's various body parts (and what I believe are imagined outcomes) play a big role in the general sense of accomplishment we see Hank gain at the end of the film, and perhaps his greatest achievement in the end - a realized sense of self worth (you could call it self love).
During the final beach scene, Hank acknowledges farting in front of everyone, which shows his acceptance of his own humanity in the face of society's judgements. However, immediately before this, Sarah asks him whether he really built/did all the different, strange things around the property/in the woods, and, while clearly disturbed she also seems slightly impressed (perplexed may be closer to the reality)...Hank wavers here for a minute when answering, first claiming that it was Manny who made it all possible and sharing how they sung and danced together (more delusions of course) which only serves to creep Sarah and others out more...
...BUT after saying his heartfelt goodbye to Manny, (and farting one last time in front of everyone) Hank says "it was me". This shows us that he not only accepts himself as the "weird" human who just farted, but he also sees that he was alone all along, and yet did many magnificent things when he was alone, things that might even be considered impressive. All skills demonstrated throughout the film that he never recognized in himself before this moment and instead imagined Manny doing for him eg. gathering water, creating fire, catching prey, building shelters, even seeing himself without judgement (initially through Manny's eyes).
This lends to me believing the corpse was not full of magical flatulence but rather that was just another imagined trait (like the finger snapping to make fire or the shotgun mouth). These were just more ways Hank had projected his own actions onto the corpse.
The look of laughter and affirmation we see his dad is giving (which I think might also be delusion on Hank's part) further represents this sense of pride/appreciation Hank finds in himself. I think the image of Manny farting off into the distance - wearing an expression seemingly beaming with pride - are nods to Hank's acceptance of these things:
Being weird and alone is not the end of the world if you have yourself
Even if you're weird and alone you still have worth
Neither of these things felt true for him during the opening suicide attempt scene, but by the end of the film he has either accepted or chosen them as reality.
Actually, it feels as though all of you are right. After reading interviews of the directors explaining the meaning of the movie, it's interesting that no one has yet to see it the way the directors & writers meant for it to be seen. It's meant to be about lies & the lies we tell to ourselves. It's about shame & what we are ashamed of about ourselves. What we're ashamed of revealing about ourselves, what we're ashamed of loving about ourselves & others or not loving about ourselves & others. All for fear of being judged. It's about the freedom to be exactly who we are & express who we are with no limitations & no fears. It is meant to be a very deep & funny movie at the same time according to Kwan.
To me it's not the point if it's real or not. They can see what hank sees. And they see the same thing.
My theory will probably sound a bit too crazy and yours is probably the more plausible explanation, but I sort of feel like Manny could have been some type of ‘sea helper’ who I guess was ‘immortal’ and was real to Hank however, he wanted Hank to take him back to the sea because he knew his journey to bring Hank back home was finished and waited for the next person to be stranded at sea to lead them back and so forth.
I like to think that there never was a deserted island. He was stalking that girl that from the bus and ended up going crazy right outside her neighborhood.
Especially because in the end they ran past all his constructions in, like, 2 minutes.
I don't believe he even was stranded on an island. We later learn that all of the things hank build was basically in the backyard of the woman. My interpretation is, that he literally has some kind of delusional illness that spawned from being so lonely, and from isolation. He just further broke himself when he escaped into his head, and isolated himself even more on that """island""".