The historical Finnish action movie Sisu, written and directed by Jalmari Helander, follows a gold prospector in 1944 during World War II, who tries to secure his stolen gold against a Nazi death squad. The film is set in Finnish Lapland and stars Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, and Mimosa Willamo. It has since received much praise from critics.

Although the movie is reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino‘s Inglorious Basterds, which is completely fictional, Sisu entails many “truthful” elements and also convinces viewers through its almost wordless thriller nature. The hero and gold prospector, Aatami Korpi, is not just repetitively going on a killing fest to execute Nazis, he also faces his own challenges and has to persevere in order to prevail. What many viewers have asked themselves upon watching this movie and anticipating the movie’s events is, if any are based on real-life events. This article shall shine a light on the “true story” behind Sisu.

Is Sisu Based on a True WWII Story?

The Finnish term “Sisu”, depicts an extraordinary determination in the face of extreme adversity, which suits the direction and overall theme of the movie. However, the plot of Sisu is not based on real World War 2 events. Neither the gold miner Aatami nor the killing of Nazi officers by a singular Finnish individual to protect his gold happened in real life. One could imagine, that such a story would have already hit the news way earlier and more people would have known about it. But essentially, the Gold Rush in Lapland at that time was a real phenomenon in Finland during the winter of World War II.

The Lapland War Was a Real Historical Event

Nevertheless, the Lapland War, which is the setting for the film, was a real historical occurrence and conflict. This 1944 conflict saw fighting between the Finnish and the Nazis and left the Finnish Lapland significantly damaged, It’s true that the Nazis went on a pillaging spree in Lapland towards the end of World War II, but their retreat wasn’t based on the exploits of a veteran gold-miner who was particularly gifted at killing Nazis. The Finnish army was initially in an alliance with Germany against the USSR, and an agreement was negotiated between the allies, according to which Finland was to expel the German soldiers from the territory. Peaceful at first, it turned into a violent event, which ended in Finnish victory.

Several Characters Draw Inspiration From Both Fiction and Real-Life Persons

Since the main character and hero, Aatami Korpi, did not exist, actor Jorma Tommila is not portraying a historical figure. But director, Helander, has since come out to say hat the movie is inspired by the first Rambo movie. Furthermore, he told Ilta-Sanomat, that a real Finnish sniper, called Simo Häyhä, who was notoriously known as “The White Death,” inspired Aatami’s character. Häyhä was also part of World War II as a sniper in the Winter War. Historically, he is often considered the deadliest sniper to ever exist since he killed over 500 people. In 1940, Häyhä was disfigured by an explosive bullet and thus excluded from fighting in the Continuation War; as such, he didn’t fight the Nazis like Sisu’s Aatami Korpi.

The Nazis in the movie are also partially inspired by real life personas, and so is the film’s villain, SS officer Bruno Helldorf. Helldorf is not a depiction of one heinous Nazi, but portrays a combination of banally evil real Nazi army leaders during World War II. Moreover, the hostages of the Nazis in the film are not historical hostages, who were held in captivity during World War II, but the women’s characterizations and roles suggest interesting parallels to Joe’s wives in the hit action movie Mad Max: Fury Road directed by George Miller.

Thus, viewers can see that a lot of Jalmari Helander’s characters show as many similarities to real-life people and to other movie characters, such as John Wick, to whom Aatami Korpi displays many similarities. But how much of Sisu is a true story? In general, it can be said that while the characters are fictional, but the story of Sisu leans on the very real backdrop of the Lapland War and the fights between the Finnish and the Nazis from September 1944 to April 1945.

first Rambo movie.

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