Sisu

I don’t have a history of getting really into films which seem to be over the top violent just for the hell of it. It’s not that I have a problem with violence in media, either morally or constitutionally. Ultraviolence for its own sake just doesn’t excite me. By all means, use it in your story; I just want there to be a point. That point can be thematic (Robocop) or atmospheric (Mandy) or a mix (All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)). Because otherwise, it feels like you’re doing it just to say you did and try to draw eyes via shock value, which is boring.

Sisu somewhat challenges that viewpoint.

We find Korpi (Jorma Tommila) searching for gold during the waning days of WW II while the Nazis destroy his country. He soon strikes a vein, and prepares to head into town to sell it. On his journey, he passes a Nazi company who pays him no mind…until they hear the sounds those who dared to cross him being decimated. Their leader, Bruno (Aksel Hennie), orders his soldiers to turn around to avenge their dead compatriots. After all, he’s one guy with an pick and a knife, and they’re a company of 15 or 20 with a few vehicles, including a tank. How long could it possibly take to dispatch him?

This is a folk tale meant to capture the national spirit of Finland, a sentiment known as sisu. There’s no direct English translation of the concept, but it’s somewhere in the ballpark of grit and determination and taking action. As I know little of Finnish culture, I’ll let Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs provide a better, more complete explanation.

From the get go, director Jalmari Helander telegraphs what we should expect throughout the film. The aesthetic he and his team create, the graphic design of both the credits and the map, the Nazis speaking English, and our protagonist’s complete lack of dialog all scream what we’re watching. And if you’re unsure, it’s cleared up just as fast as a madman can drive a knife through a Nazi skull.

So we start at somewhere around a 9, and just go up from there. There are some periodic breaks in the action, usually just enough to let us catch our breath, despite Korpi never getting to catch his. The action is pretty sweet, with some interesting and fun flourishes. Along with the aforementioned knife through the skull (which isn’t the only one), we have mines hurled in a glorious and precise arc, underwater throat slashes, and a whole ton of gnarly woulds used in…creative ways. It’s one of the more visceral films I’ve watched, causing me to grimace a handful of times.

By establishing so early what you can expect, Helander is free to focus on making the violence stylized and satisfying as hell. With each new piece put on the board, the question isn’t if they’re going to die, it’s how and when.

The downside of this approach is it makes it tremendously difficult to build up any sort of emotional connection. And there are a few small points where I think they want you to feel something. They’re mostly not dwelled upon, but they’re there. Additionally, we spend a decent amount of time with the Nazis in an attempt to build tension and cause us to feel their dread each time something strange happens and they slowly realize he’s about to engage them again. While not a bad tactic, it does cause us to sit in this weird emotional limbo. It’s mostly fine, but we’re bouncing back and forth between Korpi’s POV and the Nazis’, which gets disorienting. I don’t think I’d mind if we just stuck with the Nazis once he first encounters them, as it would keep the tension high.

I do like that he’s not really hunting them. Rather, Korpi just wants to be left alone. It’s not until the Nazis insist on antagonizing him that the brutality begins, and even then, his main goal is survival. He’s running away, or hiding, or else inflicting extreme violence as a deterrent (which is of course ignored). Which makes it all the more terrifying once the turn occurs and Korpi decides he has to kill all the bastards.

There’s not a lot beneath the surface here. Not that there must for it to be enjoyable, but for me, it does put a limit on how much. While its style and boldness and killer score did enough to keep me with it and have fun, it wasn’t enough to really fall in love with it. It’s good, and I’m glad I caught it, but the only impression it made was being kinda cool, which is the easiest and cheapest way to do so.

So yeah, I’d say check it out! Just know that this is going for tall tale full of catharsis, and you should have a grand old time.