4/10-4/14

Werner Herzog's STROSZEK

Jalmari Helander's SISU

Serves up what it promises: grizzled dude kills his way through a regiment full of Nazis (with a watered-down rape-revenge plotline offered on the side). Doesn't overstay its welcome, though it does wander into the silly at times—the legend that Korpi is "the man that refuses to die" is part of the whole deal, sure, and the film wisely understands that our guy has to occasionally take a savage beatdown in order to sell the point, but if he shakes off lethal levels of punishment too many times my suspension of disbelief starts to strain. Still, Jorma Tommila's marvelously craggy face and passably convincing performance helps ensure that we (mostly) stay on the correct side of the cool/stupid divide, and I can accept some silliness while watching fascists eat shit in colorful ways. Bonus points for Kjell Lagerroos' artful cinematography, which pretties up the genre fare with a welcome layer of needless splendor. Falling debris from an explosion here looks better than half the stuff in THE TREE OF LIFE.

Werner Herzog's WOYZECK

Miller & Lord's PROJECT HAIL MARY