Sisu is a difficult word to translate from Finnish into other languages, but it is explained in the opening text of this film that it is a form of white-knuckled courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds. The legend of Sisu is a well known folk tale in Finland. But, for audiences tuning into this breakneck paced, 90-minute, blood and guts filled, action packed, revenge thriller, Sisu is a hell of a time at the cinema.
1994. Lapland, Finland. The final days of World War II are inbound, and the Nazi’s occupying Finland are violently retreating to Norway, scorching all the Earth between them and their final destination.
Meanwhile, an ageing, solo gold prospector (Jorma Tomilla), and his loyal Bedlington Terrier, happen upon a life-changing amount of gold. His only issue now is that his literal path to freedom is literally blocked by Nazi’s, led by an SS officer (Askel Hennie) who also sees the gold as a ticket to his own freedom.
Little do these Nazi’s know, this gold prospector has his own violent past that he has run away from. A past that comes very much so in handy when it comes to killing a lot of Nazi’s to protect his gold.
Writer and director Jalmari Helander (Rare Exports) wastes no time getting into the meat and bones (not even figuratively) of the tale of Sisu. Despite no lines of dialogue being spoken in the first 15 minutes of the film, due to the subdued persona of the gold prospector (who really doesn’t speak at all during the film), Helander uses the ‘show, don’t tell’ method to make the audience aware that this guy has a past, and he will not let anyone get in his way of freedom. The set up is quick, the plot is simple and everyone’s motives (even those of the Nazi’s retreating to Norway) are understood in a timely manner to make way for the mayhem that follows.
And, oh boy, is there some mayhem in this film. Knives, guns, landmines, pickaxes, tanks, rope and bombs are just the surface layer of items used to dismember, disintegrate, and ultimately murder the scum sucking Nazi forces. This is undoubtedly the main draw of the film, watching 1001 ways to kill Nazi’s, and it’s so goddamn entertaining. There is an exploitation cinema vibe to the overall film, that is honed in on well by Helander.
The violence ranges from exciting, to hilarious, to outright squeamish, ticking all the boxes of bloody bits to expect in a film like this. Helander’s energetic directorial style captures all the stylistic action with such grandeur and grit, but he also is able to bring the camera uncomfortably close to enhance the tense nature of the story.
Jorma Tomilla is like a Finnish Rambo throughout Sisu. He is a truly indestructible killing machine. Surviving an onslaught of bullets, bombs and blunt force traumas, each time the old man comes back into the fight is almost applause worthy. He is a gritty looking man, with the battle scars to confirm it, but Tomilla’s performance also takes the audience on a compassionate journey in which you just want him to get his gold and get the hell out of this war-torn hell hole. However, even when he is beating to a pulp, and another string of Nazi’s appear on the horizon, there’s a sadistic sensation overbearing that knows some good killing is about to ensue.
On the other end of the morality spectrum, Askel Hennie’s performance as SS officer Bruno is also a highlight of the film. Bruno is a brutalist who will stop at nothing to get the gold for himself, and the script does a fantastic job of giving Bruno a legitimate motive to want the gold for himself too. Even the most mildly fleshed out nature of his character, which easily could have been a stock standard Nazi caricature, allows a sense of dread to be felt every time he attempts to kill the gold prospector.
Sisu is a rollicking good, Nazi killing time. The 90 minutes flies by with such feverish excitement. Helander’s ability to make this much fun out of such a simple premise is to be admired, along with the performances from Tomilla and Hennie. But the piece de resistance is the glorious, gory action that only manages to one up itself with each scene that passes by.
