Sisu Review

One of the most horrid atrocities of the 20^th century is the Holocaust, which saw the genocide of 6 million European Jews by Nazi Germany between the years of 1941 and 1945. And because they were the perpetrators of such monstrous and hateful act, there always comes and immense amount of catharsis in media where the Nazis get what they deserve. These range from having them get punched out by the titular hero in the Indiana Jones films, getting gunned down by the truckload in the Wolfenstein games, or being scalped and bludgeoned in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds. And the latest piece of Nazi butchering media is here with Sisu, coming all the way from Finland. It’s directed by Jalmari Helander, who is best known for the Christmas horror comedy Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. Sisu proves to be not only a contender for best action film of the year but is also the most fun theatrical experience I’ve had this year.

Set in late 1944 during the Lapland War between Finland and Nazi Germany, the film follows Finnish prospector Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila), who lives along in the wilderness with his horse and dog, panning and digging for gold. Soon, Aatami hits upon a huge deposit of gold, and soon begins to head south with a hefty amount of gold nuggets in tow. However, Aatami soon runs into a 30-man Wehrmacht platoon lead by SS officer Bruno Helldorf (Askel Hennie), who are enacting the scorched earth policy of destroying every settlement as they retreat to Norway. Soon, Helldorf and his platoon begin to pursue Aatami for the gold in his possession. Little do they know is that Aatami is a veteran of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union, known and feared on the battlefield as a one-man death squad nicknamed “The Immortal” for his sheer refusal to die, and with a body count that ranks in the hundreds. What follows a brutal chase and struggle between the two as Aatami uses every skill and trick he knows to annihilate Helldorf’s platoon, all in the name of keeping his newly earned fortune.

A film that offers a brutal and grizzled action hero in Jorma Tommila’s Aatami Korpi.

Every action film needs its action hero, and here Sisu brings us an interesting one in Jorma Tommila, who was the lead of Helander’s Rare Exports. What makes Tommia stand out as Aatami Korpi is that he does not speak throughout the majority of the runtime with the exception of a single line near the end. I honestly love it when films have mute or silent characters, as it always them to convey their character through either facial expressions and body language or, in the case of Aatami, their actions. And according to Helander, two of the inspirations for Aatami’s character were John Rambo (in particular his portrayal in the original First Blood) and Simo Häyhä aka “The White Death”, a Finnish military sniper who fought in the Winter War and is regarded as one of the deadliest snipers in history for his kill count of 500 Soviet troops. The film conveys Aatami’s status as a war veteran through visual storytelling, with him not only possessing the look of a grizzled old soldier, but a scene where he baths in a river prominently displaying his scarred body, most notably a huge scar that covers his abdomen. His fighting style is shown to be brutal and efficient, and he is shown to be resourceful, such as using his digging tools in combat. This includes using his mining pan as a shield to block incoming gunfire and making great use of pickaxe as a melee weapon in the latter half of the movie. Aatatami is basically of the Finnish concept of sisu (where the movie takes its title from), which can be described as stoic determination and white knuckle courage in the face of adversity, and to see things out to the end.  Overall, Tommila is a brilliant action hero as Aatami and I’d love to see him as the lead in more action movies.

And equally excellent is Askel Hennie as the villain Bruno Helldorf. He’s established as completely evil from the get-go, having his platoon destroy everything in their path as they retreat and keeping young women captive to serve as “entertainment” for his men. Hennie possesses a very distinctive look to him, looking as if Mads Mikkelsen was crossed with Tim Roth. And he also has a very striking costume, namely his SS officer’s cap and overcoat worn over a tank operator uniform, complete with a shoulder holster prominently displaying a Luger pistol. What I especially love about Helldorf is his motivations, as he is fully aware that the Third Reich is on the verge of failing, and he sees the gold that Aatami has as a way to buy himself out of the hangman’s noose.

Other prominent roles include Jack Doolan as Wolf, Helldorf’s right hand man who is incredibly vile, being introduced in the aftermath of having his way with one of the female captives. And the leader of the female captives is Mimosa Willamo’s Aino, who remains defiant to her captors and at points risks her life to save her fellow captives, such as volunteering herself to walk through a minefield in the platoon’s search for Aatami I just honestly wished she had more to in the film, as she only takes up a prominent role in the last act of the film.

A gritty, Spaghetti Western inspired action film that embodies the concept of Sisu.

While the film is primarily a World War 2 set action film, Sisu is a film that gives off the feel of a Spaghetti Western film. Obviously, it is not a one-to-one comparison, but it follows several tropes of the subgenre, such as Aatami being the silent, stoic wanderer akin to the Man with No Name or Django, his use of a horse as a transport, gold being the MacGuffin that drives the plot forward, and the sparse tundra’s of Lapland being akin to the deserts that are the common settings of Spaghetti Westerns. This feel alongside the setting makes Sisu an interesting genre blend.

The main attraction of this film has to be the action sequences, which the advertising leaned hard in on with its red band trailer. It more than lives up it the hype, with the action being brutal and gloriously gory. This is best shown in the first action scene, where Aatami starts off by stabbing a Nazi soldier in the head with his knife, followed by stabbing a charging soldier in the side and then using his body to shield himself from machine gun fire, beating another soldier’s face in with his own helmet, and finishing off the last soldier by making him shoot himself with his own MP40 submachine gun. The action only escalates as the film goes on, including an entire sequence with a minefield (special mention to a Nazi who gets killed with a thrown landmine). Another highlight is a scene where Aatami, after being doused in gasoline, lights himself on fire to ward off an attacking dog before jumping into a river. The action is every bit as entertaining and exciting as it is cathartic.

Sisu is a standout of this year, not only being one of the most fun theatrical experiences I’ve had so far, but may potentially dethrone John Wick Chapter 4 as best action film of the year. Jorma Tommila is an incredible action lead as a stoic, grizzled old soldier that embodies the sisu concept, and Askel Hennie makes for an equally striking villain. Jalmari Helander’s direction gives the film the distinct feel of a Spaghetti Western and offers plenty of brutal, gory, and cathartic action. Any action fan worth their salt should see this, as it’s not a film to be slept on.