Daniel Radcliffe’s new film role as farting corpse sparks audience walkouts

Sometimes any kind of publicity is the best kind of publicity, and the theme of public outrage seems to be generating a lot of buzz for Daniel Radcliffe’s new role as a farting corpse in indie flick Swiss Army Man.

Audiences were reportedly left divided upon its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, with some leaving the cinema mid-film in varying states of unrest, reports Radio Times.

Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the bizarre buddy film stars Paul Dano as Hank, a man who finds himself stranded on a desert island, only to befriend a farting corpse, played by Radcliffe.

Together, the pair draws upon Radcliffe’s flatulence to set out on the ocean and make a move back towards civilisation. The film also features a same-sex kiss between Dano and Radcliffe, who continues to shake off his Harry Potter roots with a wide breadth of film roles.

Across social media, commentary on the film has been as equally mixed.

“I like Dan Radcliffe but he makes some very questionable choices when it comes to indies,” wrote film critic Jeff Sneider.

I like Dan Radcliffe but he makes some very questionable choices when it comes to indies.

— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) January 23, 2016

“SWISS ARMY MAN is great. Exuberantly sentimental, scatalogical, imaginative, handmade. Just like Daniels’ music videos but grander,” said another.

SWISS ARMY MAN is great. Exuberantly sentimental, scatalogical, imaginative, handmade. Just like Daniels’ music videos but grander.

— David Lowery (@davidlowery) January 25, 2016

I’ve seen thousands of movies and never seen anything like SWISS ARMY MAN. Insane. Crazy. Like entering a bonkers dream. Wow. #sundance

— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) January 23, 2016

After the screening, filmmakers and actors from the film participated in a Q&A session, where Radcliffe said he was instantly drawn to the role.

“The chance to play a dead guy in this context was too much fun to pass up,” he said.

“Originally it was just a fart joke that Dan made to me,” Scheinert said.

“And then, joking along the way about how the man riding a farting corpse could be a feature, we stumbled on something personal.

“It was an opportunity to explore mortality and big ideas but with fart jokes.”

Like Radcliffe, Dano added he wanted to be apart of the film almost directly after receiving the script.

“Once [his character, Hank] was riding the farting body, I was in,” he said.

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