THE SET-UP
In the remote wilderness of World War II Finland, a stubborn prospector (Jorma Tommila) strikes gold, but must fight his way through a brutal Nazi platoon to live long enough to enjoy his treasure. Also stars Aksel Hennie, Mimosa Willamo, and Jack Doolan. Written and directed by Jalmari Helander.
THE DELIVERY
Sisu is an entertaining throwback to the infamous World War II-themed grindhouse films of the 1970s. It features an outlandish premise, an anti-social hero, and more gratuitous violence than you can shake a pickaxe at. Finnish director Jalmari Helander, who directed the Samuel L. Jackson guilty-pleasure actioner Big Game, wrote and directed Sisu, which (according to the film’s opening) is a Finnish word meaning “a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination.”
Set near the end of World War II, the film follows an older gold prospector, Aatami Korpi (Tommila) as he seeks his fortune in the isolated tundra of Finland’s Lapland region. When he discovers a mother lode, he sets out on horseback with a backpack full of gold, eager to cash in his fortune at the nearest town. He runs into a platoon of retreating Nazis, who discover his treasure, and Korpi is forced to reveal his infamously violent past. Until he claims his prize, he’ll kill anyone in his way.
Sisu packs a lot into a tense 90 minutes, as Korpi somehow survives multiple attempts to kill him, coming back seemingly more invincible every time. Although the pacing is a bit uneven between the action set pieces, the gritty, highly-stylized film delivers action that tests the bounds of realism, yet is highly entertaining. Still, you’ll really have to buy into the premise not to roll your eyes when Korpi gets blown up by a mine, shot, hanged, and filled with shrapnel, and still keeps going. The insanity ratchets up with every scene, and the finale is so outrageous and so improbable it almost ruins the film. That’s where Tommila’s performance saves the day. With very little dialogue, he crafts a likeable hero that happens to be indestructible, like a Finnish Rambo. Even when you think “it’s stupid that he survived that” you can’t help but cheer him on.
It’s obvious writer/director Jalmari Helander is trying to inject a Tarantino vibe into this film. It works more times than it doesn’t, and while the film doesn’t rise to the level of Quentin’s films, this well-made, entertaining flick makes a nice companion to his movies. The film is visceral, wild fun, and the supporting cast is every bit as good as Tommila. Aksel Hennie (The Martian) is excellent as the Nazi tank commander pursuing Korpi, but he’s a bit too grounded in reality. Helander should have allowed Hennie to give a scenery-chewing, larger-than-life performance to counter Tommila’s understated Korpi, and make their final showdown that much better.
Sisu caught the attention of action film junkies upon its release in the spring of 2023, but its limited release kept it from becoming a bigger hit. It should win over a legion of fans with its home video release, as it elevates B-movie action to top-shelf entertainment.
SIGHT AND SOUND
Sisu looks fantastic on Blu-ray, with a desaturated color palette highlighted by excellent detail. There is a selective use of a fine sheen of digital grain, to give some scenes a raw, gritty look. There are some color pops, particularly with fires and some of the greens in the stark Finland landscape, and blood is a consistent deep scarlet.
The movie was filmed on Sony Venice digital cameras, capable of capturing an 8K image, so the film’s digital transfer looks fantastic at home. The visual effects by Troll FX are fantastic, looking far better than some big studio film effects. The digital work holds up quite well in the high definition transfer, and the cinematography by Kjell Lagerroos is excellent.
The audio is a robust Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track, and you feel every bit of it, as gunfire, explosions, and even tanks are window-shakingly good. Dialogue is centrally presented in the channels, although most was noticeably dubbed in a studio later. While this is common for most modern films, it usually isn’t this noticeable. In this case, it sounds way too much like the actors were in a booth standing too close to the microphone.
BONUS FEATURES
Special features are a bit thin for this release, but we do get a short documentary (basically an extended featurette), and a look at the digital effects. Both provide nice looks behind the scenes, but a few more extras would have been appreciated. The bonus features on the blu-ray include:
*“Indestructible: Making Sisu” documentary. Writer/director Jalmari Helander discusses the production of the film, and lots of behind-the-scenes footage is included. Running Time: 24:26
*“Pushing the Boundaries of Reality: The Visual Effects of Sisu” featurette. The film’s digital effects are explored in this short, as we see how practical effects merged with CGI to create the film’s wild imagery. Running Time: 10:49
*Digital Copy. A code for a digital copy of the film, redeemable on VUDU/Fandango or iTunes, is included.
BLU-RAY SPECS
Release Date: July 11, 2023
Running Time: 91 minutes
Rating: R
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Audio, English Descriptive Audio
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, English SDH
Label: Lionsgate
MSRP: Blu-ray/DVD/Digital $39.99
