Total Balalaika Show is a 1994

1994 in film

1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...

 film by director Aki Kaurismäki

Aki Kaurismäki

-Career:After studying Media Studies at the University of Tampere, Aki Kaurismäki started his career as a co-director in the films of his elder brother Mika Kaurismäki. His debut as an independent director was Crime and Punishment , Dostoyevsky's famous crime story set in modern-day Helsinki...

 featuring a concert with the Leningrad Cowboys

Leningrad Cowboys

The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish rock band famous for humorously making rock and roll covers of popular songs, exaggerated pompadour hairstyles, long, pointy shoes, often featuring a Russian military band, the Alexandrov Ensemble.-Beginnings:...

 and the Alexandrov ensemble.

The concert took place on 12 June 1993 on Senate Square

Helsinki Senate Square

The Senate Square presents Carl Ludvig Engel's architecture as a unique allegory of political, religious, scientific and commercial powers in the centre of Helsinki, Finland.-Construction:...

 in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. 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

Eclecticism in music

Eclecticism is used to describe a composer's conscious use of styles alien to his nature, or from one or more historical styles. The term is also used pejoratively to describe music whose composer, thought to be lacking originality, appears to have freely drawn on other models .-Sources:* Kennedy,...

 mix of Western rock and Russian folk music, including a balalaika

Balalaika

The balalaika is a stringed musical instrument popular in Russia, with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass...

 rendition of Stairway to Heaven

Stairway to Heaven

"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album . The song, running eight minutes and two seconds, is composed of several sections, which...

(not shown on DVD release of the film), and folk dancers performing to rock songs.

Songs

The "rockumentary

Rockumentary

The term rockumentary is a neologism denoting a documentary about rock music or its musicians. The term was used by Bill Drake in the 1969 History of Rock & Roll radio broadcast, and by Rob Reiner in the 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap....

" features 13 songs from the concert:

• Finlandia
  Finlandia Hymn
  The Finlandia Hymn refers to a serene hymn-like section of the patriotic symphonic poem Finlandia, written in 1899 and 1900 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius...
  
  
• Let's Work Together
• The Volga Boatmen's Song
  The Volga Boatmen's Song
  The "Song of the Volga Boatmen" is a well-known traditional Russian song collected by Mily Balakirev, and published in his book of folk songs in 1866. It is a genuine shanty sung by burlaks, or barge-haulers, on the Volga River. Balakirev published it with only one verse . The other two verses...
  
  
• Happy Together
  Happy Together (song)
  "Happy Together" is a 1967 song from The Turtles' album of the same name. Released in February 1967, the song knocked The Beatles' "Penny Lane" out of the #1 slot for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the group's only chart-topper. "Happy Together" reached #12 on the UK Singles Chart in...
  
  
• Delilah
  Delilah (1968 song)
  "Delilah" is a song recorded by Welsh singer Tom Jones in 1968. It was written by Barry Mason, with music by Les Reed.-Success:It reached No 1 in the charts of several countries including Germany and Switzerland. It reached No 2 in the British charts in March 1968 and was the sixth best selling...
  
  
• Knockin' on Heaven's Door
  Knockin' on Heaven's Door
  "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan for the soundtrack of the 1973 film Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. It reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.-Story line and song structure:...
  
  
• Polyushka Polye (Oh, Field)
• Kalinka
• Gimme All Your Lovin'
  Gimme All Your Lovin'
  "Gimme All Your Lovin" is a song by ZZ Top from their 1983 album Eliminator. The song was released as the album's first single in 1983 ....
  
  
• Jewelry Box
• Sweet Home Alabama
  Sweet Home Alabama (song)
  "Sweet Home Alabama" is a song by Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd that first appeared in 1974 on their second album, Second Helping.It reached #8 on the US charts in 1974, and was the band's second hit single.-Creation and recording:...
  
  
• Dark Eyes
  Dark Eyes (song)
  Dark Eyes is a Russian song.The lyrics of the song were written by a Ukrainian poet and writer Yevhen Hrebinka. The first publication of the poem was in Literaturnaya gazeta on 17 January 1843....
  
  
• Those Were The Days
  Those Were the Days (song)
  "Those Were the Days" is a song credited to Gene Raskin, who put English lyrics to the Russian song "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" , written by Boris Fomin with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevskii. It deals with reminiscence upon youth and romantic idealism...
  
  

DVD release

The film is available on three DVD releases. The first, released by Sandrew Metronome

Sandrew Metronome

Sandrew Metronome is a Scandinavian film distributor. It is one of the biggest distributor companies in the Nordic countries. It is owned by the Anders Sandrew Foundation and the Norwegian Schibsted group....

 in 2004, is for DVD Region 2

DVD region code

DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...

. The second, released by Facets

Facets Multi-Media

Facets Multi-Media is a film organization in Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1975. Besides its facilities in Chicago, Facets Multi-Media also runs Facets Video, one of the largest distributors of foreign film in the United States.-Facets Video:...

, is for All Regions

DVD region code

DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...

. The third is by The Criterion Collection

The Criterion Collection

The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...

 in an Eclipse

Eclipse (DVD)

Eclipse from the Criterion Collection is a brand for a line of DVD film series released by the Criterion Collection. It debuted on March 27, 2007....

box set with the two original films.

External links

• Balalaika music records SKAZ