The one scene Daniel Radcliffe wants played at his funeral: “So dumb and so beautiful”
Artists in any medium will always be working to find that one magical project that they get in their lifetime. It might not be the one that earns them the big bucks or anything, but when looking at their vast catalogue of projects, there are always a few that stick out, and Daniel Radcliffe knew that some of his films were good enough for him to take to the grave.
Then again, Radcliffe has carved out one of the most unique careers in Hollywood after he threw away the circular glasses and the scar on the top of his head.
His life as Harry Potter may have been incredibly fulfilling during his first years as an actor, but considering how many strange projects he has been involved with since then, he has done a phenomenal job at distancing himself from his career as a wizard and into something far more interesting, from his career on Broadway to more out-there movies like Guns Akimbo or playing Weird Al in the rock biopic parody Weird.
Are all of his movies suited for the masses? Not at all, but that’s what makes it so interesting. There’s probably only a certain subsection of people who will appreciate what he did in a production like Equus, but being able to balance those artsy projects with something like The Lost City is what makes him unique. But even in his most strange movies, there’s always a lot of heart in everything that he does.
Which is probably why Swiss Army Man remains one of the most delightfully strange movies that A24 has ever put out. If you were to explain the premise to someone, you need to make sure to add in the right details, because if all they see is a bearded Paul Dano riding zombified Daniel Radcliffe as a jet ski that is being driven on the power of farts, people would already be lining up to call it one of the worst things in the history of film.
But the ridiculousness is what makes it great. For all of the strange eccentricities that Radcliffe’s Manny has about him, there are moments where he says something profound about the human condition, like remembering Jurassic Park out of the blue or shaking with fear when Dano’s Hank talks about meeting a girl on the bus.
Although the actual scene might look strange out of context, Radcliffe knew that moment was why he loved the art of making films, saying, “If I could have one scene played at my funeral, it would be this scene, because it’s so dumb and so beautiful. I love this film so much and it says something so weird and lovely about being alive and being human and how crazy the whole experience is.”
And in a strange way, that perfectly encapsulates what Manny is all about. Sure, he’s technically dead in the context of the movie, but his sense of awareness and childlike whimsy when talking about the world has the perfect mix of blunt honesty and charm that most people would kill to have at some point in their lives.
Although there’s a lot of surrealist moments in the film that might take a lot of getting used to, it makes sense why Daniels would end up making even more surreal moments on later projects like Everything Everywhere All At Once. Not everything makes sense, and it might take people a while to understand what they’re watching, but if you’re willing to go on that crazy ride, you’ll get a character like Manny. He’s certainly strange, but all he had to do was die once to truly live on as a friend.
