Sisu Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Jalmari Helander
Stars: Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo, Onni Tommila.
An ultra-violent pulpy Tarantinoesque WWII actioner from Finland, Sisu proves to be an unexpected treat and is, arguably, one of the more enjoyable films of the year.
It is 1944, the war is in its dying days and the Germans are retreating from Finland, adopting a scorched earth policy, destroying everything in their wake. Aatami Korpi (Award winning Finnish actor Jorma Tommila, from2010’s Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, etc) is a legendary soldier who is supposed to have killed some 300 Russian soldiers during the conflict. But disillusioned with war he has left the fighting behind and is now a prospector searching for gold in the remote badlands of Lapland in the country’s far north. One day he strikes it rich and heads for home with his fortune and his faithful Bedlington Terrier Sulo. Along the way he encounters a small Nazi convoy lead by the ruthless Bruno Helldorf (Aksel Hennie, from the Jo Nesbo penned crime drama Headhunters, etc), who steal his gold and leave him for dead.
That is when the carnage begins and what follows is quite bloody indeed. Aatami is an indestructible one-man killing force, sort of like John Wick on steroids. He survives a minefield, being shot, stabbed, hanged, and even a plane crash in his relentless pursuit of the Nazis.
Written and directed by Jalmari Helander (Big Game, etc), Sisu was something of a passion project for the filmmaker. His muscular direction keeps the film moving at a fast pace. The gory violence is superbly choreographed, and it has an almost cartoonish quality at times.
Sisu is Helander’s third collaboration with Tommila and he knows how to get the best out of his leading man. Aatami is the very embodiment of the taciturn loner weighed down by the demons of his past but who is quite the efficient killing machine, and Tommila is a perfect fit for the fairly physical role. The Finnish word sisu doesn’t have a readymade English translation but it means resilient or tenacious, two words which perfectly describe the film’s impossibly indestructible hero. Hennie makes for a great antagonist, but his character is more of a one-dimensional villain and is not given any real depth. And the dog is a scene stealer, and we constantly worry about its fate.
In both its gritty look and feel, Sisu is a throwback to the Hollywood action films of the 80s and 90s. In fact, Helander acknowledges the influence of films such as Rambo on Sisu, but it also contains elements of Tarantino (particularly his Inglorious Basterds) and Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns. It has been shot on location in the remote regions of Lapland and cinematographer Kjell Lagerooss captures the harsh look and inhospitable landscapes of the area with some striking imagery.
And at a brisk 90 minutes the film is never in danger of outstaying its welcome.
★★★☆
