Movies Review Blood & Gold and SISU

So, I did the thing where I rent two movies that are very similar- knowing that I am going to mix up the details over time. The last time I did this was the movies Prestige (directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine) and The Illusionist (directed by Neil Burger, starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel and Paul Giamatti). Even today I mix and match who was in what and what happened. Yesterday, I watched Blood & Gold (directed by Peter Thorwarth, starring Robert Maaser, Marie Hacke and Alexander Scheer) and SISU (directed by Jalmari Helander. starring Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie and Jack Doolan).

Both movies center around battle, over gold, with Nazis. In Blood & Gold, there’s a cache of gold, hidden in a small town that the Nazis are after. In SISU, a legendary Finnish commando-turned-prospector has the stash of gold the baddies are after. The protagonists in both films are ‘super soldiers’ in that they are extraordinarily skilled, durable and determined to have justice prevail at the end of World War II. Pretty much the (rogue) Nazis have realized that they have lost the war and getting a bounty of gold in their last hope for escaping the swiftly coming retribution.

What did I expect?

Well, violence. Action…and more violence and action. Both movies deliver. SISU has a Tarantino Grind House feel [see the chapter break titles] and some of the camera work feels very Sergio Leone and there are even western music cues. I’ve been on a war movie bend as I recently watched the remake of All Quiet on The Western Front (2022 film directed by Edward Berger) and really enjoyed it.

The plot lines are rather simple for each film, with very little needing to be explained here, but if someone is lost, here’s breakdown.

Blood & Gold: A soldier is left for dead by his Nazi company, rescued by a woman from a nearby farmhouse, they are caught up in the action and fighting an SS troop over a stash of hidden gold.

SISU: A retired soldier finds a gold deposit, but has to fend off a company of rogue Nazis to keep it.

Both movies excel in tone as the tension is tight and the gory-action is fantastic. Everyone likes seeing evil Nazis go out in terrible ways, right? The only downside to these films is that they both have over-the-top endings. In some parts, it’s work to suspend your belief and stay in the realm of “this could happen”. For Blood & Gold, it’s the use of extra shocks or who-gets-who, which is a fun turn, but unexpected in a film that started out so gritty.

For SISU (a word that roughly translates to Strength and Perseverance), it was really, really pushing it. And leaned to the point that it almost became an Indiana Jones movie. I recommend both movies and suggest you watch them in the order I did- first Blood & Gold and then SISU. Thankfully, they live up to their trailers. I’m not a movie critic, I’m just critiquing a movie or two.