Sisu - L'immortale

There aren't many directors that I monitor closely, waiting and hoping for their next film to come out as soon as possible, but Jalmari Helander is one guy I keep track off. His long-feature debut "Rare Exports" was one of the most uniquely original and pleasantly deranged horror tales of the new century, and even his somewhat commercialized breakthrough "Big Game" (starring Samuel L. Jackson as the US President crashing with Air Force One in the Finnish woods) was a lot better and more entertaining than you'd think as well.

It took Helander nearly 8 years to return with a new film. At the Brussels' International Film Festival, where "Sisu" premiered and Helander was a guest of honor, he explained that he spent several years working on a personal dream project of his, but unfortunately it got cancelled entirely due to Covid. Out of pure frustration, or so he says, Helander wrote the script for "Sisu" in barely a couple of weeks. Well, if this near-brilliant explosion of action and sheer adrenalin is what he comes up with in a few weeks, then I sincerely hope he'll still get the chance to finish his other project.

What a film! You know those movies where all the great highlights and action-packed moments already feature in the trailer? "Sisu" has a terrific trailer too, but there are still a few hundreds of other highlights left to discover in the film. In fact, this film is a one-and-a-half-hour trailer full of awesome moments. The comparisons I've read between "Sisu" and Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Bastards" are accurate. The extreme violence and narrative structure are identical, and both films feature lots and lots of Nazis getting killed. Everybody just loves watching Nazis getting butchered in the utmost brutal and sadistic ways, is it not?

Aatami Korpi is a lone hermit digging for gold in the most northern region of Finland during the last months of WWII. When he hits the jackpot, he loads up his bag with pure gold and hopes to keep a low profile while heading back to civilization. When a platoon of Nazis finds out what he's carrying, though, they obviously want to steal it. But Korpi is not just a weak and defenseless recluse, or what did you expect? He's a force so determined and indestructible that only an obscure and local Finnish term for him exists.

Evidently (and also similar to "Inglourious Bastards"), "Sisu" requires quite some suspension of disbelief from the audience. This man has the fighting and survival skills of John Rambo, but in combination with the indestructability of a T-1000 Terminator! Whether shot at with heavy artillery or a rope, he cannot die. He remains under water for a ridiculously long time and walks away from plane crashes totally unharmed. Is it plausible? Nope. Is it entertaining? You bet! Especially when watching in a chock-full festival theater with a thousand of outrageous horror fanatics shouting at a screen. Must-see!

Sisu is a complicated concept. In a way it is pure stoic perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds, but it is important to note that it is not just determination. It is also cleverness, that manifests itself when you most need it. Sisu is finding the solution to a problem, no matter what. This movie is definitely about that. Aatami, our "hero", finds the way.

Being old enough Finn to have known many people of this generation, this isn't even that much of an embellishment.

The movie is quite simplistic. The Finnish characters don't even talk until very late into the movie (which is actually another insight into Finnish culture). You have a goldminer with gold and a company of Nazis hunting him. You can't really go wrong with this storywise. You just have to make the characters and the action interesting enough. Do they? Yes. This might me kind of mild in the age of superhero movies and the more traditional action movies copying the superhero movies, but it works. In some ways kind of refreshing to keep it all more grounded.

While this might be more meaningful to me as a Finn, I would assume that if you enjoy mid-budget action, this will be right up your alley (although, at 6 million euros, the budget was much lower than what would be considered midlevel in bigger markets).

This was a pleasant surprise! We have Tarantino-inspired bloody action, silent and very charismatic protagonist, beautiful imaginery from actual locations in Lapland, really good soundtrack and some innovative fighting and survival scenes, and of course Finnish Sisu.

Jorma Tommila as the leading man does a phenomenal job. He has only one line in the whole movie (an instant classic), but he is acting very well just by using his face and body.

"He is not immortal, he just refuses to die."

Congratulations for the writer/director Jalmari Helander, the movie looks really good, flows forward easily and is overall very cool and original, despite the overused tropes of evil nazis and action. With just 6 million budget this looks much bigger.

Some nitpicks: the nazis speak English, even when talking with each other, which is kind of weird. But it makes sense for scenes with some Finns.

I really hope this gets much views all over the world.

Don't take the movie or events too seriously, just enjoy the ride :)

I watched the trailer, and that's it. I knew what to expect and I accepted it. I gave 8/10. Film was 1,5 hours and never had a boring moment. Film just went on like a German tank. Better than most recent James Bonds and closer to early Clint Eastwood westerns with silent scenes and unspoken moments. Just brilliant. The guy got beaten really bad but did not give up, even when the death is obvious, your determination "Sisu" will save the day.

Not all movies are for everyone. So it is useless to complain, same as arguing of colors, is red better than green?

Totally worth of watching and the trailer nails it pretty well. Movie has a story and it is realistic filled with some comedy and "red juice".

For as much as there is to like about Sisu, and there is a lot, the film does ask the viewer in equal parts to continuously suspend reality. Sisu is at its best in close quarters combat, when the fists and knives take center. The cinematography plays with the vast landscapes and camera techniques (one forced perspective shot of a tank staring down the gold prospector left me awestruck). The brisk runtime of 91 minutes ensures there aren't many lulls between Nazi blood being spilled. There is copious gore from both Nazis and our protagonist's unwilling desire to die. There are even damsels in distress.

I cannot say Sisu is exactly what I expected from the trailer, because truth be told, I wasn't expecting mimicry sequences of Mission Impossible hanging from a plane, Rambo stalking with a survival knife, or the other half dozen far-fetched antics. The film's unwilling desire to never take itself too seriously is both why it works so good, and perhaps what ultimately keeps it from being even better...