Leningrad Cowboys - Total Balalaika Show
by Aki Kaurismäki
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DVD details
Actor: Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble, Atte Blom, Ben Granfelt, Sakke Järvenpää, Twist-Twist ErkinharjuDirector: Aki Kaurismäki
Brand: Facets Multimedia
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); Finnish (Original Language); French (Original Language); Russian (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 54 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: FACETS
DVD Reviews of Leningrad Cowboys - Total Balalaika Show
DVD Review: Odd & jaw-droppingly amazing concert!
Summary: 4 Stars
First the disclaimers: 1- There's no 'Stairway to Heaven' on this DVD. That performance shows up on a couple of their cd's, but not here. 2- A couple of the bonus music videos have sound that's slightly out of sync w/ the image (at least on my copy). 3- The remaining bonus materials are kind of 'fluffy', or a bit spare. I would have preferred interviews & behind-the-scenes that were more 'straight', not merely this 'montage of wackiness' approach.
But having said all this, my recommendation would be for you to purchase this dvd right away, and share it with anyone you can grab. I've never seen a concert film quite like this, or one that would seem less likely to be so much fun.
Turns out that the odd-looking Leningrad Cowboys - - with their sunglasses, pointed hair and pointed shoes - - were the most normal part of this show.
What you get here is spectacle. Thousands of people rocking out in Senate Square in Helsinki while an enormous Russian Military Chorus and Orchestra (and accompanying folk dancers) gleefully share the stage with the big weirdo Finnish showband doing rock covers.
No, you don't get 'Stairway', but you do get the Turtles' 'Happy Together', Dylan's 'Knocking on Heaven's Door', Tom Jones' 'Delilah', ZZ Top's 'Gimme All Your Loving' (w/ accordions), Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama' and others, trading off w/ your basic (but none the less bombastic) 'greatest hits' of Russian folk music including Kalinka, Volga Boatmen, Dark Eyes, and such.
The real surprise is how joyously earnest it all appears. Most of the songs may be American, but I didn't catch any cynical tongue-in-cheek 'kitsch factor' that might have occurred had this been a US production. Despite the rock show glitz, this still feels very much like a foreign film. There's just a different sensibility to the performances and to the way they've been captured.
If you enjoyed Aki Kaurismaki's "Leningrad Cowboys Go America", you should love this, even though this is almost an entirely different vibe. So actually, even if you didn't enjoy that movie, you still might want to check this out.
The Leningrad Cowboys have always been something of a quirky enigma for me. I enjoyed that first movie years ago, and was later surprised to hear about the existence of other movies and a bunch of albums. As there's been next to nothing easily available in the US, the mystery has continued. I'm happy now to have had the opportunity to fill in some of the blanks.
Now if we can just get a Region 1 dvd release for "Leningrad Cowboys Go America"... (and the rest of the Kaurismaki catalog as well!)
Description of Leningrad Cowboys - Total Balalaika Show
Rock meets classic folk music in this most unusual of concert films. It was on Senate Square in Helsinki in 1993 when the Leningrad Cowboys joined the Red Army Chorus and Dance Ensemble for a unique blend of music and spectacle. The Leningrad Cowboys had been created by director Aki Kaurismäki for a previous film while the Red Army Chorus was formed to preserve Russian folk music. What might seem an impossible combination of musical styles and tastes actually becomes a sublime cosmic experience, especially when the Red Army musicians pick up their balalaikas to join the Cowboys on Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."Bestsellers in DVD
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