Sisu is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Starz in the U.S., circulating the real-life story of one fascinating army veteran. This war thriller is jam-packed with action and violence without once getting boring, tempting audiences into learning something about the history of World War II. This Finnish movie is directed by Jalmari Helander, who ties the movie’s ridiculous level of gore into a real part of history that many don’t know about. As such, while Sisu is not based on a true story, it has real resonance with a lot of Finns and history buffs.

The characters of Sisu are credible and well-written, which may well have something to do with the real-life historical context of the movie. Little-known to many in the U.S., Canada, Australia, or UK, Finland was caught between the USSR and Nazi Germany in the lead-up to WWII, and ended up embroiled in the Winter War that gave way to some of the real events of the movie. Although the lead actor, Jorma Tommila, played a made-up soldier, his character was based on a real man.

Sisu’s Aatami Korpi Is Inspired By Real-Life Sniper Simo Häyhä

Simo Häyhä Was A Finnish Sniper In WWII

As the Winter War of 1939 gave way eventually to the Lapland War of 1944, a Finnish hero emerged who inspired Jorma Tommila’s character in Sisu. Tommila’s character, Aataami Korpi, is based on Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä. Korpi was known as “The Immortal” in Sisu. Meanwhile, Häyhä was known as “The White Death,“ and is generally considered the ᴅᴇᴀᴅliest sniper in history, with over 500 kills to his name. Häyhä and Korpi both partook in extensive violence, but Sisu is epic and inspirational partly because both men were defending themselves from a bigger threat.

How Accurate Sisu Is Compared To Real Life

Sisu Is Made-Up, But It Is Based On A Real War

Sisu is set in the Lapland War, portraying a real struggle between the Finns and Nazi Germany, but the movie script is created from scratch with little historical basis. In this sense, Sisu is the Inglourious Basterds reboot everyone waited for for 15 years, offering a gloriously gratuitous entry to the Nazi killing subgenre of movies made popular by Tarantino’s 2009 flick. But Sisu is somewhat more historical than Inglourious Basterds, homing in on one figure with a historical basis rather than a crew invented by a screenwriter for a fictional narrative.

Based on “The White Death,” Aatami Korpi fights Nazis in the Lapland War as a veteran of the Winter War. “The White Death” was indeed active in the Winter War, but he did not kill Nazis in the Lapland War like Aatami Korpi does in Sisu. Korpi uses survival tactics and creative killing to keep his gold safe from the Nazis trying to claim it, but Simo Häyhä was not a gold prospector. Despite being ficтιтious, Sisu maintains a sense of historical realness throughout, partially by being filmed in Lapland, displaying the real rural landscapes affected by Nazi Germany in 1944.