On this episode of the CineAmerican Dream, Levi Schulman and Haoning Jiang discuss Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s 1989 movie Leningrad Cowboys Go America, an absurdist comedy that follows the eponymous band the Leningrad Cowboys’s journey to success in America. As the band–clad in outrageous shoes and sporting equally outrageous hairdos–makes its way through the United States under the exploitative reign of its manager Vladmir, its hapless members go through all sorts of misadventures, all while absorbing local styles of music to develop their craft. In this episode, we’ll discuss the music in this film–key to enjoying the film–how this film compares to modern musical films, as well as how the film uses said music and other creative decisions to depict America: as an ordinary place, as a place to lose oneself, as a place to forge a new identity.
