Sisu Film Review: A Thrilling But Frustrating Crowd-Pleaser

Nazis die and Finns triumph within the Finnish WW2 thriller “Sisu,” a spaghetti Western–type action-adventure set within the Lapland plains of Finland. On this polished style train, a cussed Finnish gold prospector runs away from, and likewise violently dispatches, a gaggle of Nazis through the warfare’s concluding months.

Author-director Jalmari Helander (“Massive Recreation,” “Uncommon Exports”) doesn’t actually develop his post-post-modern pastiche past its primary high-concept premise, so “Sisu” — premiering on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition — by no means turns into greater than an energetically realized live-action cartoon. Fortunately, Helander and his collaborators ship a good-enough potboiler, thanks particularly to the invigorating contributions of cinematographer Kjell Lagerroos and editor Juho Virolainen.

There’s not way more to “Sisu”, however it definitely seems good and strikes briskly from one motion scene to the subsequent. 

That mentioned, you could be disenchanted by “Sisu” should you count on it to develop, both when it comes to narrative momentum or dramatic pressure. There’s definitely no level in judging Helander’s newest based mostly on its flippantly worn nationwide pleasure. An establishing intertitle breaks down the Finnish phrase “Sisu,” which we’re advised “can’t be translated” past “a white-knuckled type of braveness and unimaginable dedication” that “manifests itself when all hope is misplaced.” Later, a Finnish prisoner of warfare off-handedly says that the tight-lipped Finnish ex-soldier Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) “refuses to die”: “We have now a phrase for that in Finland, however it can’t be translated.” 

Aatami leads by instance, however his story doesn’t actually take viewers anyplace that they gained’t count on given its second-hand nature. Set throughout 1944, “Sisu” follows Aatami as he struggles to money in on a wealthy gold deposit that he finds in the course of the desolate Lapland. He’s nearly instantly discovered and pursued by a troop of ruthless Nazis, led by Aksel Hennie’s macho SS Obersturmfuhrer, who need to use the Finn’s gold to flee a looming dying sentence. Hennie’s group journey, by tank and truck, with a gaggle of Finnish feminine prisoners-of-war, no less than one in all whom is molested (off-camera) by the Nazis.  

Helander rapidly units up what motivates these characters in just a few early scenes. Aatami’s too grasping to desert his declare, however he’s additionally human sufficient, as we see when he sends his cute gray poodle combine operating away earlier than he confronts some Nazis. Hennie’s males additionally don’t have to say a lot to determine their issues, since Helander exhibits us a number of Nazi corpses strung up on phone poles.

The Finnish POWs don’t actually say or do a lot, which makes it arduous to care a couple of perfunctory later scene the place they strike a “Proper Stuff”–type pose and hearth some weapons. That’s the type of fourth-draft story beat that jaded motion followers may count on from “Avengers: Endgame,” so it’s type of disappointing to see that type of tokenism in Helander’s comparatively spartan spectacular.  

“Sisu” largely works by itself phrases, which makes its obvious shortcomings all of the extra irritating. The whole lot inevitably appears like a showcase for story-telling economic system and technical craftsmanship, so it’s unsurprising that the chases and motion scenes overshadow nearly all the pieces that requires a comparatively deep emotional funding. It’s nice enjoyable to see Aatami tumble onto and dive underneath Nazi transport automobiles, however you may not really feel as excited every time Tomilla’s character isn’t a human-shaped object in stressed movement.

There’s additionally some humor scattered all through “Sisu,” however it inadvertently underscores how one-note the remainder of the film tends to be. A very grisly early scene solely climaxes after Hennie’s character forces some reluctant Nazi cannon fodder to comply with Aatami previous a area suffering from lethal landmines. The surreal bloodshed that ensues gained’t disappoint followers of comedian violence, however the scene’s cutesy punchline — “What number of mines did you bury right here?” “All of them.” — solely confirms the filmmakers’ unapologetically shallow presentation.

The remainder of “Sisu” performs out like one lengthy chase scene that’s sometimes interrupted by dramatic tangents. Helander spends simply sufficient time humanizing his Nazi antagonists, whose blinkered tough-guy posturing speaks for them every time they squint and/or scowl into the far distance. It’s additionally telling that Helander forged Onni Tormila, Jorma’s son, as a Nazi in “Sisu” after that includes each actors in his two earlier options. (Helander can be Onni’s maternal uncle.) Helander’s Nazis might not be extra complicated than Aatami, however they’re about as well-framed and dramatically posed. All people seems good in excessive close-ups, and that’s typically sufficient to maintain the slowest interstitial scenes transferring ahead to the subsequent large bang.

Rowdy pageant audiences will in all probability adore “Sisu” because it seems attractive and by no means actually slows down lengthy sufficient to be boring. Everybody else’s mileage will possible differ based mostly on the scale of the display and the gang. Helander’s newest stays spectacular by itself phrases because of its virtuosic patchwork type, however should you watch “Sisu” at house, your thoughts may wander to your bookshelves, the place you’ll perhaps discover a number of the filmmakers’ acknowledged influences, like “Rambo: First Blood” and “Mad Max: Fury Highway.” “Sisu” will do, in a pinch, however it’s not contemporary sufficient to warrant a re-evaluation.

“Sisu” makes its world premiere on the 2022 Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition.