Direction: Jalmari Helander
Country: Finland
In its 90 minutes of butchery and greed, Sisu permeates the constant hyperbolic violent scenes with surprising comedic infusions. Told in seven chapters, the story - set during Finland’s Lapland War and about a lone, “immortal” former commando turned gold digger - is immoderate in tone and embellished with a lot of cartoonish Tarantino-like pulp. Although technically competent, we are pushed into the ridicule of overwrought action sequences and a notorious inability to aim higher than the basics.
Jormi Tomilla, who worked with the Finnish director Jalmari Helander in his two previous features (Rare Exports, 2010; Big Game, 2014), was perfect for the role. Some of his scenes are painful to watch but one keeps interested in this scarred, silent old soldier whose wounds heal spectacularly fast - yes, like a superhero! That’s until the arrival of a terrible final chapter packed with such implausible situations that you can’t help feeling a bit dumb.
The menacing goth score by Juri Seppä and Tuomas Wäinölä enhances the dehumanizing brutality of war in a film where any thoughtfulness that could still exist is rapidly washed away in blood. The film will likely make the day of those fond of violence, but should be superfluous for audiences expecting cleverer plots.
