Leningrad Cowboys Go America and Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses are road trip movies from Finland released in 1989 and 1994 respectively and directed by Aki Kaurismaki. These movies are weird to put it simply. They both feature a band who originate from Finland but in their backstory they’re a band from Russia. This movie, to put it simply, is weird. Unlike Spinal Tap, this band is real. They’ve been together since 1986 and are still active today. They have a massive discography of 10 full sized albums and have gone on tours. It’s the result of a joke between director Aki Kaurismaki and Sakke Järvenpää and Mato Valtonen as a joke on the waning power of the Soviet Union. When the first movie was released, Kaurismaki had only released the first two movies of his Proletariat trilogy which were already quite well received and upon release of the sequel, the final Proletariat film was released and La Vie De La Bohemme came out which was an award winning piece. These movies in my opinion are some of the best of Kaurismaki’s work. One of the benefits of Kaurismaki’s films is that there’s a carousel of actors that commonly appear in his films which creates a strong sense of familiarity. While I may not be a fan of road trip movies, I’m going to tell you why these movies are the best road trip movies you’ve probably never seen. Now from here on out, there will be spoilers! If you choose to continue, I hold no fault for any spoilers you may read. 

Leningrad Cowboys Go America follows the titular band, the Leningrad Cowboys as they try to make their way across America and to a wedding in Mexico to perform. The band wears long pompadour hairstyles and suits with winklepicker shoes to match their hairstyles, giving them a signature look that you could spot from a mile away. The first movie is, as the title states, the Leningrad Cowboys taking a trip to America to hopefully find success. After an audition with a talent agent who initially suggests they may  be able to play Madison Square Garden or Yankee Stadium, soon changes his mind upon hearing their music and offers them a job to play at a wedding in Mexico. The movie follows the band’s travels playing at various venues across America and eventually ending up in Mexico. It’s simple, the music is fun and it’s a great introductory movie. The sequel, Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses, follows the band after making it big in Mexico. The band has fallen into alcoholism and have become unpracticed. After an anonymous telegram invites them back to New York, they’re met with their former manager who has been reborn and has dubbed himself Moses. The movie once again follows the general plot of following the band as they travel, perform shows and get into hijinks along the way. With the hijinks including the theft of the nose of the Statue Of Liberty. Both of these movies have and incredibly simple plot which makes for an easy watch and there’s minimal dialogue throughout which means these movies are incredibly accessible for the majority of people. The music included is also incredibly iconic and familiar to a variety of age groups which makes it quite enjoyable. 

I caught these movies by chance. It was late at night, I was scrolling through the criterion channel and I was looking for a short movie. Now because of the overall criterion catalog, the majority of the movies are three hours long, slow and incredibly boring. But I saw Leningrad Cowboys Go America with a beautiful hour and nineteen minute run time and I was sold. It’s just a fun movie. I’m not a fan of road trip movies, I usually shrug them off and don’t bother watching them but Leningrad Cowboys defied my expectations. This movie is great for when you want to absolutely shut off your brain and slap something on TV. After watching the first film, I had to watch the sequel and generally speaking, sequels are nowhere near as good as the first movie but once again, my expectations were defied. The sequel was great  and it once again has a short runtime, clocking in at only an hour and a half long. The movies are filled with performances by the band at various different venues. There’s a very loose plot to these movies and it honestly just melds together for a really fun experience. The comedy is mostly deadpan humor with some sight gags here and there (in the sequel, Moses is shown to walk across water while the village idiot who follows him just falls right in). These movies are a great way to showcase a comedy band and do a road trip movie. 

These movies are weird, they’re obscure, they’re foreign and the majority of the people reading this have probably never heard of them. But I’m a weird film watcher, weird movies are my bread and butter and these movies are the best bread and butter I’ve had the pleasure of discovering. Kaurismaki’s filmmaking style blends everyday life with absurdist events. The music blends popular rock songs like ‘Born to Be Wild’ but then turns around and has songs like ‘Cossack Song’. Some of the songs even have a polka twist to them. The humor is dry and simple but it has my sides splitting with laughter. While you can just throw it on and completely zone out, there’s a benefit to really sitting down and giving those movies your full attention. Especially with the amount of visual jokes throughout each movie. While the band initially started out as a joke, they later went on to have an incredibly successful career including a concert movie, Total Balalaika Show, also directed by Kaurismaki. I had a fun time watching these movies and have even rewatched them more than a handful of times. Leningrad Cowboys Go America is on my top five films of all time and if you decide to watch it, you can definitely see why. So go forth and watch some of the best road trip movies you’ve probably never seen.