Naman Shrestha
Loosely inspired by the 1982 movie ‘First Blood‘ and the real-life Finnish military sniper Simo Häyhä, ‘Sisu’ is a war action movie that stars Jorma Tommila as Aatami Korpi, a retired legendary Finnish Commando and solitary gold prospector who discovers a significant amount of gold and heads toward the city to sell it. However, on his way, he crosses paths with Nazis who steal his gold only to realize that they have messed with not just an ordinary miner.
Embodying the meaning of the title of the movie, Aatami portrays unimaginable courage and fights against whatever the Nazis throw at him. He is ready to go to extreme lengths, that is, killing every last Nazi in his path, in order to get his hard-earned gold back. Set during the last days of World War II, the Jalmari Helander directorial unfolds in Finnish Lapland which is represented through the use of various landmarks. So, if you find yourself curious to know all about the actual filming sites of ‘Sisu,’ we have got you covered!
Sisu: Where Was it Filmed?
‘Sisu’ was filmed in Finland, especially in and around Lapland. As per reports, the principal photography for the action thriller film commenced in September 2021 and seemingly wrapped up in late 2021. By shooting the movie in autumn, the filming unit wanted to capture the brilliant colors and mood of autumn in the northern region of Finland. Now, without further ado, let us walk you through all the specific locations where Aatami takes on the Nazis!
Lapland, Finland
Most of the pivotal sequences for ‘Sisu’ were lensed in Lapland, which is the largest and northernmost region of Finland, with the production team setting up camp in various sites across the region to tape different scenes against suitable backdrops. To be specific, the village of Nuorgam in Lapland’s Utsjoki municipality and the village of Ivalo in the municipality of Inari are a couple of prominent production locations where many key scenes for the action movie were recorded.
In addition, the production team utilized the premise of the abandoned Kaamanen airport to shoot numerous action scenes involving heavy vehicles, such as tanks. They even traveled out of the region to Pikku Mustajärvi in Ruovesi to record a few important portions for ‘Sisu.’ Over the years, the locales of Lapland have been featured in a number of film projects, such as ‘War,’ ‘Hay Road,’ ‘The Fourth Protocol,’ and ‘The Colony.’
Talking of filming on location in Lapland, the director Jalmari Helander was asked in the April 2023 interview with Goldenglobes about his experience of actually getting the opportunity to shoot the film in Lapland and how much “sisu” did he require to survive there. He replied, “I didn’t need that much Sisu because I had a lot of clothes on and safety glasses and all that because of the wind. The wind was probably our biggest challenge there because there were no trees and the wind was blowing really hard.”
Helander further expanded, “But it still was one of the best moments in my life filming there. I had all my friends there, and even though the conditions were hard, it looked amazing. I love being somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Everybody’s together and no one goes home after a shooting day. We are all there doing this one thing. It made the whole crew come together and it was cool.”
Read More: Is Sisu Based on a True Story?
