Ever since Liam Neeson demonstrated his “very particular set of skills” in Taken back in 2008, Hollywood has been pumping out a steady stream of movies about seemingly harmless blokes getting their bloody revenge on those who have wronged them. But none has done it quite like Sisu, which you really need to catch before it disappears from Netflix on 11th September.
The very ordinary fella in this instance is Aatami Korpi (played by Jorma Tommila), who we first meet searching for gold in Lapland on the very edges of World War II, with nobody but his dog and horse for company.
There are still signs that the war isn’t quite over though. A squadron of planes flies over Aatami’s camp at dusk; the sky is lit by a bombing raid on the horizon; and, having hit the 24-karat jackpot with his trusty axe, he passes a heavily armed convoy of Nazis as he heads towards the nearest town to cash in his treasure.
This part of northern Finland usually conjures images of deep snow, teams of huskies pulling sleds through dense forests, and reindeer taking a well-earned rest from their December duties; but here, Lapland is a sparse, empty wilderness that has an almost off-world beauty to it, particularly if you’re watching in 4K and Dolby Vision.
The only sign of Rudolph and co is a skeleton with those telltale antlers still attached – a chilling portent of the death and destruction that is to come.
At first it seems the retreating soldiers are willing to leave the old man and his four-legged companions alone, but after an encounter further down the road that leaves a group of Nazis very much regretting their decision to mess with a seemingly powerless prospector, Aatami finds himself being pursued by a sadistic tank commander and his men.
Sisu, as the film’s title card explains, is a Finnish word that cannot be directly translated into English, but loosely refers to a kind of profound courage and resilience that is only summoned through extreme adversity – and for the rest of the film that’s exactly what Aatami does.
There are moments here that would finish off Wile E. Coyote, but Aatami manages to shrug them off with the occasional bit of DIY first-aid, the scars on his body suggesting that this isn’t his first encounter with a bunch of ruthless killers.
The film’s foley department must’ve been on first-name terms with the local butcher by the time they were finished recording the sound effects for Sisu, such is the amount of flesh that is stabbed, shot, blown up and pummelled with makeshift knuckledusters over the film’s tight 91-minute runtime.
In fact, if you’re watching in 5.1 surround sound you’ll want one of the best soundbars or best surround sound systems to do justice to the rumbling tank tracks, exploding landmines, and cold winds that whistle across the Nordic plains.
In terms of dialogue, though, there’s very little (and the majority of it is in English, so don’t worry if you hate subtitles). Aatami never delivers a mission statement in the way Neeson does in Taken. In fact, he never really says much at all, letting his practically superhuman reserves of sisu do the talking instead.
The final set piece will certainly be a suspension of disbelief too far for some (even Mission Impossible's Ethan Hunt would likely consider it improbable), but if you treat Sisu as a kind of post-war Finnish folk tale, where the truth is intertwined with exaggeration and embellishments, it’s a thoroughly entertaining slice of Nazi-bashing.
And when Aatami does finally speak it’s to deliver a punchline so perfect that if you had been taking Sisu entirely seriously, the joke really would be on you.
The last day you have to watch Sisu on Netflix is 10th September, but if you miss it, it’s also available to rent or buy in 4K from Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, and Rakuten TV, or on Ultra HD Blu-ray.
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