Jalmari Helander

Directing

Jalmari Helander

Born July 21, 1976 · Helsinki, Finland (age 50)

Jalmari Helander (born 21 July 1976) is a Finnish screenwriter and film director. He is known for the 2010 film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (which Cate Blanchett named as one of her favorite movies), the 2014 action-adventure Big Game starring Samuel L. Jackson, and the 2022 WWII action film Sisu. Before turning to feature films, Helander directed several short films and award-winning televisio…

Known For

Sisu: Road to RevengeSisu: Road to Revenge · 2025
Sisu: Road to Revenge
7.32025
MovieActionWar
Returning to the house where his family was brutally murdered during the war, "the man who refuses to die" dismantles it, loads it on a truck, and is determined to rebuild it somewhere safe in their honor. When the commander who killed his family comes back hellbent on finishing the job, a relentless, eye-popping cross-country chase ensues.
SisuSisu · 2022
Sisu
7.42022
MovieActionWar
When an ex-soldier who discovers gold in the Lapland wilderness tries to take the loot into the city, German soldiers led by a brutal SS officer battle him.
The Last Stand of Ellen ColeThe Last Stand of Ellen Cole · 2024
The Last Stand of Ellen Cole
8.32024
MovieActionAdventure
When an evil contractor goes to extreme measures to evict a testy tenant who is standing in the way of his new project, he fails to take into account that this seemingly harmless old woman is a trained killer and will do anything to protect her beloved home.
Big GameBig Game · 2014
Big Game
5.52014
MovieActionAdventure
Air Force One is shot down by terrorists, leaving the President of the United States stranded in the wilderness of Finland. 13-year-old Oskari is on a hunting mission to prove his maturity to his kinsfolk by tracking down a deer, but instead discovers the President in an escape pod. With the terrorists closing in to capture their prize, the unlikely duo team up to escape their hunters.
Maxmillian TarzanMaxmillian Tarzan · 1999
Maxmillian Tarzan
6.71999
MovieActionScience Fiction
The authorities are after a time-traveler identifying as Maxmillian Tarzan.
Rare Exports: A Christmas TaleRare Exports: A Christmas Tale · 2010
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
6.22010
MovieFantasyHorror
Young Pietari lives with his reindeer-herding father in arctic Finland. On the eve of Christmas, a nearby excavation makes a frightening discovery and an evil Santa Claus is unleashed…
John Rambo
Jun 3, 2027
John Rambo · 2027
John Rambo
2027
MovieActionDrama
The origin story of a young John Rambo during the Vietnam War.
UkkonenUkkonen · 2001
Ukkonen
6.02001
MovieActionScience Fiction
Ukkonen (means Thunder) is a short film about a man called Ukkonen who was turned into a radioactive man in an accident in the Generator Corporation research plant, company secretly designing radioactive weapons with an energy business as a cover. Ukkonen starts his crusade to bring the company down and get his revenge. Nice quality for an independent production, even some special effects and some funny, overdramatic monologue by Ukkonen. Unfortunately the film is very short, lasting only about 20 minutes. Worth checking out if you somehow find this film.

Filmography

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Perfect CommandoPerfect Commando · 2020
Perfect Commando
6.42020
SeriesComedyAction & Adventure
Van Hamilton’s first ever trip to his mother’s homeland, Finland, takes a wrong turn as soon as he gets off the plane. The 23-year-old rich kid from California was supposed to have a five-star holiday with his girlfriend Rachel. Instead, he is handcuffed and sent to faraway army barracks to be trained as a commando. Van soon realises that this is not a mistake: he has fallen into a trap set by his parents, who hope that serving in a foreign army will finally turn their loved but spoiled son into a responsible man. Meanwhile, Rachel has to learn to survive in Helsinki without money or a return ticket. She becomes friends with Van’s cousin and his underground rap trio in hopes that familiarizing herself with the customs of the “Nordic white trash” will send her academic career in sociology skyrocketing.

Director