TL;DR – An electric meditation on violence and the lengths people will go to survive.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Sisu Review –

Violence can be used for many things in cinema. It can be shocking, used for humour, tell a moral, used to scare, or even offend. Recently, we have seen the popularisation of the reverse slasher film, where you rally behind those dishing out the violence. We can all rally behind John Wick as he takes down those who killed his dog, but can we translate that into a war setting? Well, this is what we are exploring today.

So to set the scene, in 1944, it was the closing months of WW2, and after Finland signed the Moscow Armistice, they were required to evict any Nazi presence from the country. The Nazis then start a scorched earth campaign as they retreat through Lapland to reach the Norwegian border. Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) lives in the Lapland wilderness, mining for gold with his dog and horse as the only companions. After finding a rich gold reef, he returns to Helsinki to deposit it at the bank when he comes across Bruno Helldorf (Aksel Hennie) and his retreating SS platoon. This first group lets him pass, but carnage breaks loose when the second spots the gold.

While this is a very violent heavy film, and we will get to the action soon, I wanted to start my review by looking at how Sisu employs build-up and tension. From the opening frames of the film, we know conflict is coming. As he is mining by the river, you can hear artillery in the background and planes overhead. The fact that there is no violence as he approaches the first platoon of Nazis has you on the edge of your seat, waiting for the hair trigger to go off. There is this wave of anticipation, which we get with the second platoon as well, with only the quick signal to the dog to hide being a queue for what is about to strike. The film would return to this on several occasions, including a lake and, without being too specific the petrol station.

But once the blood starts flowing, how is the action in the film? Well, to use one word: brutal. The first knife to the brain instantly sifts the movie from 0 to 100km an hour. Blood sprays across the screen as knives, pick, bullets, and even land mines fly across the screen. There is an intensity and clear intention to every scene that makes every moment land, and you never know when the film will jump to the next level. There were more than a few moments that made me audibly gasp, and at least two where I had to look away from the screen. The setting helps because the Finland front does not map very well to our conceptions of WW2; indeed, I don’t know if many have heard of the Lapland War before. Also, he is fighting people who are irredeemable for several reasons, which is a big help and makes you ignore the fact that Aatami Korpi died multiple times.

While people will likely watch this film for the action, I want to take some time to shout out the production behind the film. The musical score from Juri Seppä & Tuomas Wäinölä brings these male choral elements throughout with pulsating drums to bring a marshal pulse to the proceedings. But then they are now afraid to add more modern sounds like the electric guitar and synths to create dissonant moments that work. The cinematography was always stunning, even in a world that could have just been bleak and constantly foreboding. Also, respect all the makeup artists and costumers that had to add that layer of dirt daily.

In the end, do we recommend Sisu? Well, this is a very violent film, and if you don’t like blood on the screen, this is not the film for you. I was captivated from the first frame to the final moments, and this might have one of the best action sequences in a year that is already full of fantastic action. If you liked Sisu, we would recommend to you Troll.            

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Sisu
Directed by – Jalmari Helander
Written by – Jalmari Helander
Music by – Juri Seppä & Tuomas Wäinölä
Cinematography by – Kjell Lagerroos
Edited by – Juho Virolainen
Production/Distribution Companies – Subzero Film Entertainment, Stage 6 Films, Good Chaos, Nordisk Film, Lionsgate & Sony Pictures
Starring – Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo, Onni Tommila, Tatu Sinisalo, Wilhelm Enckell, Arttu Kapulainen, Ilkka Koivula, Max Ovaska, Pekka Huotari, Severi Saarinen, Tomi Lampinen, Mila Leppälä, Jasmi Mäenpää, Nora Nevia & Jenna Tyni
Rating – Australia: MA15+; Canada: 14A; Germany: 18; New Zealand: R; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R