Cinema
Ivan Vasilievich Changes His Profession
Иван Васильевич меняет профессию
Leonid Gaidai · 1973
Synopsis
In his Moscow apartment, the inventor Shurik perfects a time-travel machine. A failed test sends to the sixteenth century, in the midst of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the building manager, Ivan Vasilievich Bunsha, and a burglar, Georges Miloslavsky; the real tsar, for his part, lands in the Moscow of the 1970s. At the Kremlin, Bunsha must disguise himself as the tsar and Miloslavsky as a prince.
Context
The screenplay by Vladlen Bakhnov and the director transposes Mikhail Bulgakov's play “Ivan Vasilievich” to the contemporary period. Yuri Yakovlev plays both the tsar and the manager Bunsha, with Leonid Kuravlyov as a burglar and Alexander Demyanenko as Shurik, whose third screen adventure this is, according to Perestroikino. Produced by Mosfilm, the film was released in September 1973.
Who it is for
A fantasy comedy of an hour and a half, for those who like slapstick and clashes between eras.
Prizes and reception
One of the most-watched films in the Soviet Union in 1973, with more than sixty million tickets sold.