Leningrad Cowboys Go America
Dir: Aki Kaurismäki
1989
*****
Leningrad Cowboys Go America is ridiculous, absurd, hilarious, ingenious, rock ‘n’ roll (more punk though in many respects) and just plain brilliant. I love Aki Kaurismäki's films but this is his stand out piece, probably what he’s best known and loved for, and for good reason. It’s a bizarre and somewhat surreal project, the 'cult' film every good director has inside them. I suppose it is a road movie at heart, although it is also about the music and lifestyle of the biggest rock band of all time who haven’t quite made it yet. The Leningrad Cowboys themselves were made up of members of Finnish rock group Sleepy Sleepers and several session musicians for the film but after the film’s success, and because of the fun they had making it, they actually transformed themselves into a real band and enjoyed a fair bit of success. The name of the band comes from the Marx brother’s 1940 film Go West and their costumes (foot-high quiff hairstyles and two metre-long winklepickers) feels like something the comedy group would wear, had they made been alive in the 70s and collaborated with Salvador Dali. The story is simple, the rockabilly surrealists have had no success in Siberia so decide instead to tour America and hope for success there because everyone knows that people will “buy anything” over there. They arrive at the CBGB bar in Manhattan and find an agent who gets them a gig at a wedding in Mexico. So they buy a used 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 Limousine, strap a coffin carrying their frozen band member (who stayed out all night the night before) onto the roof and set off to earn their way through the Deep South, adapting their musical style to suit local tastes at each new location. All the while they are being exploited by their money and food hoarding manager Vladimir (played the utterly brilliant Matti Pellonpää), who has a seemingly unlimited supply of beer in the ice-filled coffin. Meanwhile, Igor, the bands one and only fan from Siberia, who stowed away on the plane, follows the band by his own means of transportation. When he finally catches up with them, they appoint him as their road manager. Along the way the band are reunited with a long-lost cousin (Nicky Tesco) whose singing gives positive reception from audiences and secures him a place in the band. The group are arrested, have their engine stolen and close down a club but finally get to Mexico. The bass player is finally thawed out after being force-fed tequila, Igor joins the band on stage and they become a huge hit in Mexico, entering the music charts in the top 10. American director Jim Jarmusch, a huge Kaurismäki fan, makes a cameo as a used car dealer and blues guitarist Duke Robillard and rockabilly legend Colonel Robert Morris also make appearances and give the film that cool seal of approval. It is a cool film too, because as ridiculous and surreal as it is, it also taps into the whole ‘search for the American dream’ thing, while also working as a visually compelling American road movie and a rock ‘n’ roll biopic. The humour is of the highest quality of silly, it’s impossible not to love the Cowboys or want to actually go to one of their gigs. The musicians aren’t actors but they are performers. There is something very rewarding about watching a bunch of talented and likable people being silly and enjoying themselves. It is a rare example of a film living up to its brilliant title. There is a unique humour in all of Kaurismäki’s films but there is also a level of sadness. Leningrad Cowboys Go America is his one film whereby humour and adventure are the only goals and he manages it effortlessly. All the ingredients are there, this is how you make a raw independent film, it may be the last of its kind and it is certainly the best.