Total Balalaika Show

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.

Entertaining, surreal, hilarious, catchy, spectacular and just a lotta fun. Imagine meeting Lynyrd Skynyrd 30 years ago and telling them that one day "Sweet Home Alabama" would be performed by 10 guys with giant pointy shoes and giant pointy pompadours, backed by the Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble, in front of 70,000 screaming Finlandians.

It's very sweet to witness this display of unity between neighboring countries with a history of animosity. Opening with the Red Army Ensemble singing "Finlandia" and then going into "Let's Work Together" and "Happy Together" and a wonderful mix of Russian standards (I'm assuming) and western rock n' roll, it's really a joyous blend of two cultures. You can't help but smile. Although it's an oddball among Kaurismaki's deadpan narratives, it's one of his finest creations and one of the greatest concert films. The world needs more stuff like this. I'd love to visit Finland, they seem like they have a great sense of humor over there.

A fun, charming music & dance performance.

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.

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.