Leningrad Cowboys - Happy Being Miserable

What this video is

Released in 2000 as a single and enhanced-CD video from the album Terzo Mondo, this video represents the Leningrad Cowboys at their most commercially polished while retaining their foundational absurdist persona — towering pompadours, elongated shoes, and exaggerated cowboy-Soviet kitsch costumes that had defined the band since their creation by Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki in the late 1980s. By 2000, the band…

Why it matters

Captures a key transitional moment for the Leningrad Cowboys — migrating from cult Kaurismäki film alumni to self-sustaining international novelty-rock act. The video exemplifies the European comedic-rock promotional format of the early 2000s: theatrical performance-driven visuals with strong…

The director

Born 1963 in Nürnberg, Germany. Prolific music video director and producer with over 400 directorial credits documented on IMVDb. Known for work across European pop and rock, including Sarah Connor: From Sarah with Love (2001), Helene Fischer: Atemlos durch…