''Leningrad Cowboys Go America'' is a 1989

road movie A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...

by Finnish film director

Aki Kaurismäki Aki Olavi Kaurismäki (; born 4 April 1957) is a Finnish film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the award-winning '' Drifting Clouds'' (1996), ''The Man Without a Past'' (2002), ''Le Havre'' (2011) and ''The Other Side of Hope'' (20 ...

about the adventures of the

Leningrad Cowboys The Leningrad Cowboys are a Finnish rock band who perform rock and roll covers of other songs. They have exaggerated pompadour hairstyles and wear long, pointy shoes. They often work with the Russian military band the Alexandrov Ensemble. Be ...

, an eccentric band that travels to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to become successful, and combines their brand of polka music with various American styles as they make their way to Mexico.

Plot

The Leningrad Cowboys, a band with foot-long

quiff The quiff is a hairstyle that combines the 1950s pompadour hairstyle, the 1950s flattop, and sometimes a mohawk. It was born as a post-war reaction to the short and strict haircuts for men. The hairstyle was a staple in the British 'Teddy Boy' m ...

hairstyles and long

Winklepicker Winklepickers, or winkle pickers, are a style of shoe or boot worn from the 1950s onward, especially popular with British rock and roll fans such as teddy boys. The feature that gives both the boot and shoe their name is the very sharp and long ...

shoes to match, live in the tundra. Their manager Vladimir tries to promote them, but nobody seems to like their music, except for the mute village idiot, Igor. They are encouraged to move to

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, for people will "buy anything" there. They depart for

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, bringing with them a band member who had frozen the previous night while practicing outside. Igor, who was not invited to come with them, stows away in the plane's baggage hold. They arrive at the

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

bar in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. An agent first suggests they should play at Madison Square Garden or Yankee Stadium, but after hearing their music, offers them a gig at a wedding in Mexico instead. He also recommends that they change their musical style to

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

. They buy a used 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 Limousine, strap the coffin carrying their frozen band member onto the roof and set off to earn their way through the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

, adapting their musical style to suit local tastes at each new location. All the while they are being driven on and exploited by Vladimir, who hoards the money, takes most of the food for himself and hides beer in the ice-filled coffin. Meanwhile, Igor follows the band by his own means of transportation. When he finally catches up with them, the band members have revolted against Vladimir and tied him up, but Igor frees him and becomes the band's road manager. During the trip, the band spends time in jail, has their car engine stolen, causes a nightclub to close after playing an unsuccessful show, and reunites with a long-lost cousin whose singing earns them positive reception from the audience. They eventually make it to Mexico and perform their wedding gig, where Igor revives the thawing bass guitarist with a shot of tequila and joins the group on stage. Vladimir watches them play then wanders off, but the band finally finds success in Mexico, making the top ten.

Cast

Main actors: *

Matti Pellonpää Matti Pellonpää (28 March 1951 in Helsinki – 13 July 1995 in Vaasa) was a Finnish actor and a musician. He rose to international fame with his roles in both Aki Kaurismäki's and Mika Kaurismäki's films; particularly being a regular in Aki's ...

as Vladimir Kuzmin (manager) *

Kari Väänänen Kari Kyösti Väänänen (born 17 September 1953 in Ivalo) is a Finnish actor and director. Domestically he is a member of the Ryhmäteatteri group of actors. He was introduced to international audiences by Aki Kaurismäki, and belongs to the li ...

as The Mute (Igor) *

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...

as car salesman * Richard Boes as rock promoter *The

(Sakke Jarvenpää, Heikki Keskinen,

Sakari Kuosmanen Sakari Jyrki Kuosmanen (born 6 September 1956) is a Finnish singer and actor, born in Helsinki. He has recorded several solo albums and has also done work with Sleepy Sleepers and Leningrad Cowboys. He appeared as himself on the Finnish televi ...

, Puka Oinonen, Silu Seppälä, Mauri Sumén, Malto Valtonen, Pekka Virtanen) as themselves *

Nicky Tesco Nick Lightowlers (1955 – February 26, 2022) was a British performer, lyricist, producer, and music industry professional better known to many by his stage name Nick Tesco, the lead singer of the Members. Career As a founding member and co-song ...

as lost cousin The film includes cameos by blues guitarist

Duke Robillard Michael John "Duke" Robillard (born October 4, 1948) is an American guitarist and singer. He founded the band Roomful of Blues and was a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Although Robillard is known as a rock and blues guitarist, he also pla ...

and American

rockabilly Hall of Fame The Rockabilly Hall of Fame is an organization and website launched on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relating to the artists and personalities involved in rockabilly. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennesse ...

Colonel Robert Morris Robert Neill Morris, known professionally as Colonel Robert Morris, (December 12, 1954 – October 21, 2013) was an American musician, drummer, singer and songwriter. He was also known as "The Man with the Golden Pen". Morris was best known for ...

with his wife Irene.

Production

The idea to create the

as an absurd band came from Sleepy Sleepers members Sakke Järvenpää and Mato Valtonen, who asked Kaurismäki to direct a music video for them in 1986. Kaurismäki directed the short film '' Rocky VI'' (1986) and the Leningrad Cowboys videos ''Thru the Wire'' (1987) and ''L.A. Woman'' (1988), and then started work on ''Leningrad Cowboys Go America''. The film had a budget of 3,645,184

Finnish markka The markka ( fi, markka; sv, mark; sign: Mk; ISO code: FIM, typically known outside Finland as the Finnish mark) was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when it ceased to be legal tender. The mark was divided into 100 pe ...

and received a grant of 400,000 markka from the

Finnish Film Foundation The Finnish Film Foundation ( fi, Suomen elokuvasäätiö, sv, Finlands filmstiftelse) is an independent foundation with the task of supporting and developing Finnish film production, distribution and exhibition. It is supervised by the Departmen ...

Soundtrack

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

was released in 1989.

Reception

The film was ranked #88 in ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010. It also holds a 100% 'Fresh' rating on review site ''

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

'' based on 5 reviews.

Sequels and home media

''Leningrad Cowboys Go America'' was followed five years later by a sequel, ''

Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses ''Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses'' is a 1994 film directed by Aki Kaurismäki. It is a sequel to the popular 1989 film ''Leningrad Cowboys Go America'' that introduced the fictional Russian rock band Leningrad Cowboys which, subsequently, became a ...

'' (1994) and a concert film ''

Total Balalaika Show ''Total Balalaika Show'' is a 1994 film by director Aki Kaurismäki featuring a concert by the Leningrad Cowboys and the Alexandrov Ensemble. The concert took place on 12 June 1993 on Senate Square in Helsinki, Finland. The event drew a crowd ...

'' (1994). The film was reissued on DVD in October 2011, as part of the Criterion Collection's Eclipse series, paired with the other two Leningrad Cowboys films.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

* * * * * * * {{Aki Kaurismäki 1989 films 1980s comedy road movies Finnish comedy films Finnish rock music films Swedish comedy films 1980s English-language films English-language Finnish films English-language Swedish films Mockumentary films Films set in Russia Films set in New York City Films set in Tennessee Films set in Mississippi Films set in Louisiana Films set in Texas Films set in Mexico 1989 independent films Films directed by Aki Kaurismäki 1980s Swedish films Foreign films set in the United States