Total Balalaika Show

Having seen 2 performances by the Leningrad Cowboys and listened to their cd's I can only conclude that this documentary gives a hint of the excellence of the total. The choir is one of the best in the world and the band is the best in the world(IMHO).

I would have a preferred to see the entire show including the intermissions, that would have given a more complete sence of the overal atmosfere.

I was living in Lahti when this show was broadcast on Finnish television.I was completely stunned by the severe clash of cultures.On the one hand,a group of comically dressed musicians,very competent and visually appealing obviously spoofing the teddy boy craze and on the other hand one of the best choruses in the world dressed in their military finest. You could not expect the two divergent musical styles to get along,much less complement.... But it all works well,with the wonderful antique tractor on full display and the Red Army chorus singing Sweet Home Alabama.What a wonderful show it must have been to see live.It seems like the entire city of Helsinki was there. Hey that is only 500,000 but that's a lot of Finns in one place.

It's unlikely you'll ever see a concert film quite like the one shot on 12 June 1993 in Helsinki, Finland with the Leningrad Cowboys and the Alexandrov Red Army Choir and Dancers. 13 songs: "Finlandia" by Sibelius; "Let's Work Together" - with the drummer on a stage designed like a tractor, guitars in the shape of tractors and some air guitar action; "Volga Boatmen"; "Happy Together"; "Delilah"; "Knocking on Heaven's Door" with 6 women dancers in folk costume; "Oh Field" (the incongruity of the solemness of the Red Army Choir coupled with the Leningrad Cowboys lying flat on their backs, hair sticking up vertically a foot or so, and waving the boots with the curly toes back and forth cracked me up); Cossack dancing in "Kalinka"; "Gimme All Your Loving"; numerous dance troupes accompanying "Jewelry Box"; "Sweet Home Alabama"; "Dark Eyes"; and closing with "Those Were The Days" with Kirsi Tykkylainen (who also sings this song in the 1992 short of the same name).

The set designs were quite amusing, different aspects being revealed by lighting chances throughout the performance. The concert was bookended by a scene at the beginning titled "Moscow, May 28, 1993" with one of the Leningrad Cowboys and some functionary signing a document and a bust of Lenin spotlighted at the ending.

Total Balalaika Show is often wrongly described as "the third Leningrad Cowboys movie". That's not really correct: the Show is, in fact, a concert, featuring the Cowboys and the Red Army Choir, which took place in Helsinki. Aki Kaurismäki, who directed the Leningrad Cowboys flicks, filmed this concert and made it known to the world.

The biggest pleasure of seeing this event is the discovery that, contrary to popular belief, the Leningrad Cowboys aren't bad at all. That's just something they made up for the movies. Just watch them as they take Helsinki by storm with their personal versions of Those Were The Days (also featured in one of Kaurismäki's short films) and Sweet Home Alabama (amazing, just amazing).

It's a really great experience, whose impact is partially diminished by one fact: Kaurismäki's version doesn't feature the entire concert, since getting the rights to certain songs (most notably Bob Dylan's Knocking On Heaven's Door) would have been too expensive. Nonetheless, what we have is a really good filmed concert, and there's plenty of fun to be had for those watching it.

This 1993 concert is absolutely awesome. The Leningrad Cowboys gave the Finnish people a lot for their money. Backed by the Alexandrov Red Army Choir, they set Helsinki on fire on that night in June.

Covers of The Turtles, Bob Dylan, Tom Jones, and ZZ Top are just a small aspect of this "rockumentary". (Their version of "Those Were The Days" has to be seen to be believed)

Bravo to Kaurismaki, a world-class director who achieved something really special with this concert film. It's hard to find these days, but if you can track it down, you will be in for a serious treat.