Film Review - Sisu
Images courtesy of Sony Pictures Australia.
What do gold, a dog, and dead nazis have in common? I'll give you a hint - they all feature prominently in Sisu. Filmed in English but helmed by Finnish director Jalmari Helander (whose previous efforts include the seasonal horror flick Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale), the film follows silent protagonist Aatami (Jorma Tommila), a former soldier, as he must journey across Lapland to take his gold into the nearest bank. There's just one problem - in his path is an SS death squad, led by the fierce Bruno (Aksel Hennie).
Clearly inspired by films like Rambo: First Blood, John Wick and Inglourious Basterds, along with some slight influence from the Dollars trilogy, the film features the tried-and-true formula of "man who is literally too angry to die". Still, it manages to juice up that premise with an almost spiritual portrayal of the gorgeous landscape it takes place in, punctuated with pulpy outbursts of supremely gloopy gore. Unlike many of its western action counterparts, Sisu is not afraid to take its time - insisting that if its audience has just a little bit of patience, they'll be rewarded with excellently gratuitous violence.
But an action film is only as good as its antagonist - and while the cannon fodder nazis suffer from a severe case of Extreme Incapability (historical accurate or not, I do not care, it's always okay for nazis to be portrayed as bumbling idiots in my books) - Hennie's Obersturmführer earns his place up there as one of the more dastardly pricks one could ever want to see put in the dirt. The events of the film take place during the final days of WWII, and even as his squadron is being ordered to retreat to Norway, he chooses to pursue Aatami's fortune - partly due to his selfish desire to buy his way out of execution once Germany inevitably surrenders, but mostly because he's been embarrassed by the one-man-army at every turn; too cowardly to do anything but send more of his own men out to die.
The title Sisu is an untranslatable word in Finnish, roughly referring to an indomitable strength of will, courage, and clear-headedness in the face of extreme adversity. Offering up a gold rush of entertaining action and ridiculous predicaments for its masochistically macho protagonist to fight through, Sisu mostly sticks the landing in delivering a satisfying and fist-pumping cinematic experience.
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Sisu is screening in cinemas from Thursday 27th July. For tickets and more info, visit the Sony Pictures Australia website.