It’s already been a great year for action movies and it promises to get even better this weekend with the release of the Finnish World War II thriller. Sisu.
It is set in 1944 against the backdrop of the Lapland War conflict between Finland and Nazi Germany. Sisu (what a Finnish concept that is roughly translates to “willpower, determination, perseverance and rational action in the face of adversity”) follows a prospector and war veteran (Jorma Tommila) who is harassed by a group of Nazi officers who want his gold.
Unfortunately for the fictional Nazis and lucky for us real-life viewers, they messed around with the wrong gold digger, as you can see in the exclusive clip above. In the clip, the Nazi soldiers stop Jorma Tommila’s Aatami Korpi (nicknamed “The Immortal” for his exploits during the Winter War), harassing him about his gold and shooting a poor dog (and missing!) before the tables quickly turn with a quick knife through the head.
Image: Lion Gate
That’s exactly what we call ‘the good stuff’ in the industry.
Sisu comes from the Finnish director Jalmari Helander (Big game), and stars Jorma Tommila and his son Onni (both starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson in Big game). Norwegian actor Aksel Hennie (Headhunters) also stars the villainous Nazi officer Bruno Helldorf. The film won Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Music at the 55th Sitges Film Festival, which specializes in genre films and has previously featured films such as Possessor, holy engines, Oldboy, ringuAnd Gattaca. The movie is being distributed in the US by Lionsgate, who are likely hoping to recapture some of the great success they’ve had with the John Wick franchise.
Sisu releases in theaters April 28. You can the trailer here.