“Finnish Rambo in the Face of Terrible Nazis”: What Is This Very Scary Scandinavian Survival?

What is it about? Finland, 1944. In the wild and hostile nature of Lapland, which was then occupied by the Nazis, an ex-soldier discovers a gold mine. Willing to do anything to save his prized loot, he will stop at nothing, even if it means killing every last SS man who stands in his way.

A duet and an idea

Producer Petri Jokiranta and screenwriter and director Jalmari Helander met in 2008. After collaborating on their first two films, Father Christmas Origins (2010) and Big Game (2014), they thought it was time to develop a project for a more mature audience.

“Jalmari wanted to revisit his childhood dreams and make an action film, in the style of the eighties, but in Finland. He had the idea of ​​a survival story centered on a lonely man who simply refuses to die.”recalls the first.

Finnish Rimbaud

After discovering Rambo, Jalmari Hellander had the ambition to make a Finnish action film with Petri Jokiranta. When their new project was put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the two men decided to tackle a feature film that could be shot entirely in Finland with a local team.

Helander then took the time to write the screenplay he had always dreamed of: in less than two months, the first version of SISU was finished: “The starting point is the same as in Rambo: a hardened man faces alone in the wild and a powerful enemy. “SISU doesn’t take itself too seriously, but the atmosphere is dark and violent.”

Who is up for the lead role?

After portraying Jorma Tommila in Father Christmas Origins and Big Game, Jalmari Hellander approached the actor very early and offered him the role of Aatami. Jorma then mainly played in the theater for several years and was happy to find on the set:

“Jalmari sent me the script and I was immediately hooked. The story was great and I thought we would have a lot of fun filming, especially with Jalmari. I found a stubbornness and a certain determination in Aatham, which is also what characterizes us. , Jalmari and I.”

Preparing for Jorma Tommila

If he first wondered if he could pull off such a physical role, Jorma Tomila thought he was up to the challenge and began training. But his training was not only for sports. The actor explains: “I was interested in gold diggers and situations where a single person might find themselves surrounded and attacked from all sides.”

“I also captured the history of Lapland, the emotional and spiritual dimension of the country, and tried to immerse myself in these landscapes and this culture. My father was in the war, so thanks to him I understood what a person felt. In this type of context, but my research allowed me to better project myself at certain stages of his life.”

Frosty and windy shot

SISU was shot in Lapland during autumn, the perfect season to highlight the landscapes of the region. Jalmari Helander notes: Lapland’s nature in autumn is decorated with bright colors that last only a few weeks, and this aspect of the region is rarely seen in cinema.

“When you choose your shooting locations carefully, you don’t need to build very expensive sets. It was very difficult to shoot, especially since some of the locations are inaccessible by road. Fortunately, the residents of the area gave us a warm welcome.”

But filming in Lapland had a major drawback: freezing temperatures and very strong winds that the actors had to deal with. Jorma Tommila testifies: “Sometimes it was so cold that our muscles were tight and our skin was cracking.”

“Lapland is not a filming country. The landscapes are sublime in imagery, but the environment is very harsh.”

Even though the wind, incessant, blew at a speed of almost 100 kmph most of the time, one night remained in the memory of the actors: the one when the wind finally calmed down and when the scenes of Aatami’s hanging could be filmed. . Comedian Jack Doolan says:

“It might look a little macabre and twisted, but I really enjoyed that scene. I felt like I was enjoying those moments.”