Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe's latest role as farting corpse with an erection prompts audience walk out

Radcliffe joins Paul Dano in independent film Swiss Army Man

Peter Apps
Saturday 23 January 2016 22:39 GMT
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Daniel Radcliffe at the 'Swiss Army Man' film premiere after party, Sundance Film Festival in Utah
Daniel Radcliffe at the 'Swiss Army Man' film premiere after party, Sundance Film Festival in Utah

A new film starring Daniel Radcliffe as a farting corpse with an erection has prompted an audience walk out at its premiere.

The Harry Potter star joins Paul Dano in independent film Swiss Army Man, directed by music video duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

The movie sees Dano, currently starring in the BBC’s adaption of War and Peace, play Hank, who is stranded on a tiny deserted island.

He befriends a dead body (Radcliffe) which has washed ashore, and eventually rides it out to sea propelled by the stream of farts emanating from the cadaver.

It's fair to say a steady stream of viewers at the premiere walked out in the early stages of its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday.

Esquire called it "the longest fart joke in film history", while a review on Wired branded it a “95 minute long viral video”.

The film sparked a wildly mixed response on Twitter, with Kate Arthur, Los Angeles correspondent for Buzzfeed posting: “Inventive--but annoying, puerile, frustrating. Just no. “

Film reporter Jeff Sneider added: “Counted at least 30 walkouts within first 30 mins of the unwatchable SWISS ARMY MAN before I bailed myself at 40-minute mark. DO NOT SEE IT.”

However, screen writer Terrell Garrett was among the more positive viewers, posting: “SWISS ARMY MAN was absurd, demented and genius. Directors are master of tone.”

Scheinart said Swiss Army Man originated with an idea of "how a man riding a farting corpse could be a feature ... about mortality and big ideas, but with fart jokes".

Radcliffe’s character is the titular “Swiss Army man” because Hank finds many uses for his corpse, including turning his mouth into a cannon and his gas into a fire-starter.

Speaking at the premiere, Radcliffe said: "I feel like there will be a lot of shots in the movie where people are like, 'Oh, that's obviously a dummy because Paul Dano wouldn't have schlepped him around like that', but he did."

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