Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989)

One of my all time favorites.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The best thing about "Leningrad Cowboys Go America" is that it gave its creator Aki Kaurismaki a chance to take his cinematographic career to a higher level of elegance.This is one of the few films where Finnish cinema author has felt as if he has really been able to question some basic cultural differences of two entirely different civilizations. There are various kinds of sentiments attached to this film.Most viewers can experience comic,tragic as well as dramatic moments which have all been rolled into one in order to create a perfect symmetry of human emotions.As usual longtime Kaurismaki collaborator actor Matti Pellonpää is simply outstanding in his role as the leader/manager of a glamorous Finnish rock band.He is a key element if a viewer were to find out how some Finnish musicians look at American way of life ? Aki Kaurismaki does not appear in a mood to surprise us at all when he questions American way of life by asking a very straightforward politically correct question. What do non American musicians need in order to be accepted by American public especially in the field of Rock N Roll ? This is a great film which attempts to answers many such questions.

A number of years back, we hired, one at a time, a bunch of Russian guys. Generally one guy would know others back home who wanted jobs, and gradually we got a good group this way. These were a great group of guys and generally above average to stellar performers.But what was so amazing to me was that the social hierarchy depicted in Leningrad Cowboys Go America, i.e. the way Vladimir interacted with the rest of the group, was spot on - our guys interacted in much the same way. The ideals, Go America, get rich, were shared by all.I suppose the Finns, having some excellent knowledge of what their neighbor was all about, have the upper hand when it comes to excellent parody.This is a great film - if you've worked with Russians, or if you just want to know what these guys are doing dressed up like the Blues Brothers, have a look at this film.

Leningrad Cowboys Go America is Finland meets the Blues Brothers with a bit of Monty Python thrown in. Very entertaining.My husband and I watched this movie last night as it was St. Urho's Day and we wanted to see something from Finland. Well, 90% of the movie is in English rather than Finnish, but that didn't matter. Basically, this crazy band of brothers finds that their music is not marketable in Finland, so they go to America. It's not really marketable their either, so they are sent to Mexico and play at a bunch of bars on the way there. They switch from oldies rock to country to modern rock along the way. Finally in Mexico they are accepted for music close to what they were playing in the first place. A bad manager, dead guitarist, outcast brother, and long lost cousin add to the fun. I would recommend it to anyone who likes bizarre comedy.

It's a funny movie, providing some good laughs, a little weird, but a work of genius!Not very good actors, but it's what makes the movie so good, that it handles parody by doing it seriously!!Some weird scenes, but funny and good jokes, like the bar where it first stood "Singer wanted" and when the band was through with the gig, the sign said "Club Zchivago...for sale", one of the best jokes I've seen, but it's just me!The movie deserves the same acknowledge as "Blues Brothers"-movie, but unfortunately, finnish movies do not (except for the "Winterwar")