Vengeance is Golden

FROM THE OFFICIAL SISU MOVIE WEBSITE:

During the last desperate days of WWII, a solitary prospector (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched earth retreat in northern Finland. When the Nazis steal his gold, they quickly discover that they have just tangled with no ordinary miner.

While there is no direct translation for the Finnish word SISU, this legendary ex-commando will embody what SISU means: A white knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds. And no matter what the Nazis throw at him, the one man death squad will go to outrageous lengths to get his gold back – even if it means killing every last Nazi in his path.

SISU THE MOVIE:

Starts with the description:

SISU

is a Finnish word that cannot be translated.

It means a white-knuckled form of courage

and unimaginable determination.

Sisu manifests itself when all hope is lost.

1944

Then we see the lone prospector and his dog panning for gold in a stream. Then:

CHAPTER 1: THE GOLD

comes on the screen and the prospector finds a sliver of gold in the creek. He starts to dig around the stream looking for the vein of gold and indeed finds the vein of gold. He digs it up and fills his saddle bags with the gold. Then he loads up on his horse and heads out on the long road to town followed by his dog. On the way he encounters The Nazis……

CHAPTER 2: THE NAZIS

And a Minefield that the Nazis planted as they were leaving Finland……..

CHAPTER 3: MINEFIELD

And we find out who the prospector really is and why he is ………..

CHAPTER 4: THE LEGEND

Scorched Earth is the policy the Nazis had on their retreat out of Finland, it is also now the prospectors policy………..

CHAPTER 5: SCORCHED EARTH

And along with some new friends, they want to………

CHAPTER 6: KILL ‘EM ALL

THE REVIEW:

The Scenery, filmography and special effects:

The scenery of untouched Finland unravaged by Nazi hands….Beautiful. As the Nazis start to enter the frame and the land they have touched, the filmography echoes that. Colors fade into the grey of war and the evilness of the Nazi war machine. The special effects were awesome. Explosions, horrific graphic violence, lots of blood and body parts, and fog…lots of fog.

The Legend:

The prospector character was loosely based on a WWII Finnish sniper who reportedly killed over 500 Nazis. He is played by Finnish actor Jorma Tomilla, a mild mannered actor in real life. He transformed himself into a complete bad-ass in this movie. I say well done to that transformation and great job acting as The Legend. He never says a word until the very last scene in the movie and conveys so much without uttering a single word throughout the rest of the movie. Interestingly enough Jorma’s son is also an actor and played one of the Nazis in the movie.

The Dog:

The prospector’s dog is a Bedlington Terrier which looks slightly like a wild poodle. The director had his mind set on a more vicious dog breed for the movie but when he saw Jorma Tomilla’s dog he decided to use him instead. You can see the bond the two have in real life coming through in the scenes in the movie. Personally I think the Dog was the second best actor in the film, right after Jorma.

My final words(Promise):

It reminded me of INGLORIUS BASTARDS, that movie was also laid out in Chapters. And obviously because of WWII and The Nazis but also because of the over the top violence. It was almost as if parts of it were a horror/slasher movie. Make no mistake, there is lots of violence and it is horrific, but in a horror movie type of way. Even though this is a war movie I think it borders on some good old fashioned horror, kind of like Strange Darling or Ready Or Not. It reminds me of Strange Darling in how the movie is laid out in chapters also.

I loved this movie, I loved everything about it. The story, the legend, the dog, the women. I am a fan and am ready for SISU 2. Bring it on……..