Review: SISU (2023)

I said it before and I’ll say it again: I will never tire of seeing Nazis get obliterated.

Especially in this age of fascist resurgence, it remains a genuine delight to watch these hollow men meet grisly ends. And SISU soars as a delivery system for inventive Nazi destruction. Jalmari Helander’s film certainly has some peaks and valleys, but when those high notes hit—it is utterly captivating and thrilling. There is a lot of innovative approaches in not only the way to dispatch others but also the abuse that the protagonist takes as he withstands attacks. Helander (RARE EXPORTS, BIG GAME) has always shined by taking unique approaches to fairly simple concepts. What if Santa was a malevolent force? What if the President was lost in the Finnish woods? These premises are intriguing but its Helander’s executions that make them entertaining. Luckily SISU continues that trend as a film that is wildly engrossing, gleefully bombastic, and thoroughly entertaining.

A nearly silent miner (Jorma Tommila) has been toiling at finding gold for days…maybe even years. He finally finds a mother lode and packs it up to get money for it. Unfortunately, this is happening in the waning days of World War II. Nazis have enacted a “scorched earth” policy where in they are destroying everything and everyone in their path as their forces mobilize back (retreat) to Germany. It’s not lost on the higher ranks that the war has turned against them as they trudge over the corpses and ash of Lapland (northern Finland). These officers see this prospector’s gold as representing a second chance after the war. Seeking to steal it, they awaken something in the miner, who is a legendary ex-soldier whose body count ranged in the hundreds. It’s not necessarily that he’s the best fighter, though he is very good at killing people; this man is relentless and refuses to die, taking on all of the pain but doling out his own suffering to those that stand against him. He will keep his gold and he will make sure these Nazis no longer bother him…no matter the cost.

The movie’s title (and opening title cards) come from a Finnish word that has no direct translation outside of its native language. The best way to define “sisu” is a “white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds.” Think of DIE HARD as an American possessing sisu, or FIRST BLOOD as a person showcasing such attributes: both are badasses that face down insurmountable odds, no matter the pain they endure. The hero at the heart of SISU is even more hardcore than John McClane and John Rambo, though he does seem to embody Rambo’s famous line of “in order to survive war, you gotta become war.” The grim determination of this prospector radiates from the screen. It is obvious that the world will bend to his will before he ever bends to its ways.

Tommila portrays this force of nature in flesh perfectly. It would be easy to just be stoic and have this silent character simply not react as he makes his way through the world. But audiences first see him expressing hope about potentially finding gold, and then abundant joy at discovering the lode. We know he’s capable of feeling and not just some sentient weapon meant to execute those that cross him. And when he’s around the Nazis, even before they start harassing him and trying to take his gold, Tommila radiates a restrained rage, a barely held violent contempt for those around him. While the miner wishes to be left alone, that doesn’t make him some silent, introspective monk; he’s a real person with real emotions, that just happens to be sublimated into a clenched fist when surrounded by all these assholes.

Being righteous anger incarnate leads to many satisfying moments in SISU where Nazis are ripped apart, stabbed, shot, blown up, drowned, hanged, and so much more. Helander finds constantly novel ways to use WWII technology to cause the most heinous damage to the Nazi meatbags as possible, to the delight of audiences everywhere. And it’s not just utilizing these historically accurate weapons, but also employing basic punches and kicks and throat rips and more, just to mix it up between these moments of retribution.

For those seeking realism in their films, perhaps they should look elsewhere. SISU does a good job of making the hyperreality seem grounded—through staging the action in non-showy methods, covered by dirt and without flashy cinematography. There are no massive stars, heroic quips, or Michael Bay 360 shots. By removing those markers of modern blockbusters, Helander is doing his best to ground the unbelievable action in a world that feels closer to real, if only so it doesn’t become too ridiculous too quickly. It does enter that cartoony realm a bit in the third act, but for the most part you’re already along for the fantastic ride that it’s not a big issue.

There are some lulls between setpieces which creates a bit of a stop-and-start rhythm that takes a way from the immediacy of the action. As SISU goes along, though, it wisely uses those lulls to focus on the hero tending to his wounds and preparing for the next onslaught. While the action sequences contain all manner of dismemberment and carnage, the truly gruesome scenes are watching the protagonist fish bullets out of his body and repair all of the damage he’s taken. Again, it’s impossible and nowhere near reality, but the F/X and direction and Tommila’s performance give it genuine weight to make it work much more realistic than it should.

Just because the movie depicts Nazi killing doesn’t inherently make it good. Just check out a bunch of those PUPPET MASTER sequels. It certainly helps endear the film more because it’s just delightful to watch the ubermenschen bite it spectacularly on screen. SISU takes that already pretty great quality and then builds upon it with unbelievably inventive and graphic ways to kill people and to survive their attacks—there is a sequence involving a trachea that I had never even come close to imagining before. It’s not an incredibly realistic movie, but that isn’t a knock on it; the emotions it captures and explores are real, and the grounded aspect of the storytelling really helps sell that aspect. DP Kjell Lagerroos’ cinematography recalls the revisionist westerns of the ‘70s while capturing the beauty of this frozen wasteland. SISU is a fantastic time that will have blood pumping with excitement and amazement, constantly discovering some new way to bring the pain to the worst people in the world.

This thing.