Do Nazis have the highest death count of any group in cinema history? Indiana Jones dispatches Nazi creeps by the dozen in both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade while Quentin Tarantino’s motley band of soldiers takes out a record number of Germans in Inglourious Basterds. Nazis are even obliterated in family fare like Captain America: The First Avenger. Let’s face it, we love to see Nazis killed and that is why Jalmari Helander’s new film, Sisu, is such a blast.
Minimalist in its script and story but maximalist in its violence, Sisu could feel like John Wick set in World War II, but Helander’s film works so well that it never feels like a cheap knockoff. Imagine a Tarantino film that wasn’t in love with its own language or Mad Max: Fury Road without a feminist touch. Take both of those, strip them down to their elemental essence and you begin to reach just how the lean and mean Sisu succeeds so well.
Set in 1944 in Lapland, Finland, the prescript explains that the Nazis are losing the war. With nothing to lose, Germany begins a scorched earth campaign as they pull out of Scandinavia. While torching villages, hanging innocent people and keeping Finnish girls as sex slaves, the Nazis in Sisu interrupt Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila), an elderly man who is panning for gold. It just so happens that Aatami has struck it rich moments before after discovering the motherlode. Of course, the Nazis have to ruin that for poor Aatami.
When a platoon of Nazis, led by the cruel SS officer Bruno Helldorf (Aksel Hennie) , realize Aatami is carrying a satchel full of gold nuggets, they decide to steal it. But they soon learn that they are fucking with the wrong guy. During the Winter War, the three-month conflict between Russia and Finland in 1939-1940, Aatami killed scores of Russians, earning himself the nickname Koschei (aka “The Immortal”). Bruno and his troop have decided to rob the wrong guy and one-by-one, Aatami kills the Nazi in a flurry of bullets, blades and landmines.
Basically, we get to watch 90 minutes of Nazis being killed in inventive and hilarious ways. It’s almost a reverse horror film of sorts where the quarry turns the tables and begins hunting the hunters. At times, it may seem like Aatami possesses superhuman qualities, especially his ability to survive certain situations that would put most humans six feet under. But God bless Aatami for being determined to get his gold back.
Tommila’s go-for-broke performance is what pushes Sisu from low-budget actioner to must-see. Originally a stage actor and founding member of God’s Theater, an experimental troupe that dabbled in full-frontal nudity and throwing human shit at the audience, Tommila is no stranger to throwing himself into a role. After being arrested and fined for these performances, Tommila transitioned to screen acting, appearing in Helander’s prior two films. Here, Tommila doesn’t speak until the end but imbues the film with a ferocious energy that makes it difficult to look away.
Sisu hearkens back to films like First Blood, tales of outsiders scrambling to survive against impossible odds. It doesn’t hurt that Aatami is hunting Nazis but Tommila also earns our sympathies early on. The guy really just wants to bag his gold and go home but a cadre of Nazi goons spoil that for him. And then they pay the ultimate price.
At a scant 90 minutes, Sisu doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s a quick, thrilling diversion that isn’t trying to make any grand statements. The avoidance of bloat is welcome in a genre that seems to think that bigger is always better. Not here. Sisu is bloody, well-placed and a surprisingly good time, especially in a genre that needs rehabilitation. As for the Nazis being killed – no one likes Nazis. If anyone is going to get a knife through the head, it may as well be some racist motherfucking Nazi.
Photo courtesy of Lionsgate
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