Total Balalaika Show | |
Director: | Aki Kaurismäki |
Producer: | Aki Kaurismäki |
Music: | B. Alexandrov Tipe Johnson |
Cinematography: | Heikki Ortamo |
Released: | (France, Rouen Nordic Film Festival) (Finland) |
Runtime: | 57 min |
Country: | Finland Sweden |
Language: | English, Finnish |
Total Balalaika Show is a 1994 film by director Aki Kaurismäki featuring a concert by the Leningrad Cowboys and the Alexandrov Ensemble.
The concert took place on 12 June 1993 on Senate Square in Helsinki, Finland. The event drew a crowd of approximately 70,000 people from two nations – Finland and Russia – that had been engaged in a state of "peaceful coexistence" during the Cold War.
The concert featured an eclectic mix of Western rock and Russian folk music, and folk dancers performing to rock songs.
Total Balalaika Show was a critical success, scoring a 77% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The "rockumentary" features 13 songs from the concert:
The film is available on three DVD releases. The first, released by Sandrew Metronome in 2004, is for DVD Region 2. The second, released by Facets, is for all regions. The third is by The Criterion Collection in an Eclipse box set with the two original films.
See main article: Total Balalaika Show - Helsinki Concert.