LENINGRAD COWBOYS GO AMERICA (1989)

‘Go to America. Over there, they swallow any kind of crap.’

So advised the rich financer to the manager of the Russian folk band full of eccentrics with weird long quiffy hairstyle and elongated pointy shoes, calling themselves as Leningrad Cowboys. So these out-of-work one band stuck in Siberia, decide to head west to make fortune. They take along with them the freezing dead body of one of their band mate too! Another surprise of the packet is a mute bald village idiot who follows them from hometown to their last joint in foreign land. The manager of the band is shrewd guy forcing the band members to learn English and Rock & Roll and the character was played by Kaurismaki’s loyal lead actor Matti Pellonpaa. He sets arranging their gigs from local US bars to wedding party and handles (rather exploits) their money. He eats in restaurants and emptying the umpteen numbers of beer cans while band mates either get occasional single fruit from supermarket. Though they try pleasing the audience, the final words they heard from everywhere are- ‘Get lost and never come back.’ The entry of a distant relative as lead singer ultimately gets them heard first round of applause but it is performing at wedding in Mexico, the band hit the top ten Mexico!

This is Kaurismaki at his outrageously entertaining best with the film which is queer elemental mixture of episodic road movie, rock & roll male odyssey and hilarious adventure trip all in running time of one hour and fifteen minutes. The American journey is not full of eye-friendly or post card picture one; Kaurismaki showed us the industrial and mechanical America full of factories and industrial units on country roadsides.

Fun can’t be more outrageous than this! Eager to see his sequel too!

Ratings-7.5/10