Ivan Vasilevich menyaet professiyu (1973)

Director:

Leonid Gaidai

Writers:

Vladlen Bakhnov (writer)
Mikhail A. Bulgakov (play)

Release Date:

June 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | History | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Shurik Timofeev builds a working model of a time machine. By accident, Ivan Bunsha, an apartment complex manager...

Plot Keywords:

Tsar | Burglar | Moscow Russia | Surrealism | Film Director

Cast

Aleksandr Demyanenko	...	Engineer Alexander Sergeyevich Timofeyev / Shurik
Yuriy Yakovlev	...	Ivan Vasilyevich Bunsha, house manager / Czar Ivan The Terrible
Leonid Kuravlyov	...	George Miloslavsky / Prince Miloslavsky
Natalya Krachkovskaya	...	Ulyana Andreyevna Bunsha (as Natalya Belogortseva-Krachkovskaya)
Saveli Kramarov	...	Feofan, scribe of ambassadorial department
Natalya Seleznyova	...	Zinaida Mikhailovna (Zina) Timofeyeva
Vladimir Etush	...	Dentist Anton Semyonovich Shpak
Mikhail Pugovkin	...	Karp Savelyevich Yakin, film director
Sergei Filippov	...	Swedish ambassador
Natalya Kustinskaya	...	Yakins lover
Eduard Bredun	...	Radio components illegal trader
Valentin Grachyov	...	Guardian
Natalya Gurzo	...	Nurse
Ivan Zhevago	...	Doctor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nina Brodskaya	...	Zina Timofeyeva (vocal) (singing voice)
Yuri Chernov	...	Musician
Larisa Eryomina	...	Tsarevna
Aleksey Kalabulin	...	Guardian at Ivan the Terrible's chambers
Nikolai Malikov
Nina Maslova	...	Tzaritza
Konstantin Mazanov
Vasili Nosik
Anatoli Podshivalov	...	Lieutenant
Yuri Potyomkin
Andy Rabinovich	...	Guardian
Mikhail Sadorsky
Viktor Uralsky	...	Policeman
Valeriy Zolotukhin	...	Prince Miloslavsky (vocal) (singing voice)

Also Known As:

Иван Васильевич меняет профессию (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (USA)
Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Occupation (USA) (video title)
Ivan the Terrible: Back to the Future (USA)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian | German

Color:

Color | Black and White

Sound Mix:

Stereo | Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-8

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company:

Mosfilm

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the end of the movie Ivan IV Vasilyevich says that he is born in the year 1533. However, Ivan was really born on 25 August 1530. 1533 was the year he became Grand Prince.

Movie Connections:

References Brilliantovaya ruka (1968)

Soundtrack:

Razgovor so schastyem

The best in Russian comedy. Bulgakov's revival.

An adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's story based on a grotesque collision of different historical periods. Some visual humor involved. A couple of awkward chases and a lot of awesome jokes. One of the best Russian comedies, second to none except 'Brilliantovaya ruka' by the same film director.

It is interesting that the film spans not only the time of Ivan the Terrible and the 70's but also the 20's when Bulgakov's original was written. Although the influence of the 20's is mainly atmospheric, it is nevertheless visible in the fact that most of the character's names sound funny in the way usual for the satirical literature of that period.

Contrary to what may seem to a foreign audience, the chase sequences in the movie serve only as a rather ineffectual background for the main comical action, which is almost entirely verbal and basically relies on the combination of contemporary language with its archaic counterpart of the 16th century - a detonating mixture that is guaranteed to kill the native-speaking audience.

Considering the fact that the movie is featuring some of the most popular Soviet actors, it is not surprising that this low-budget and obviously slap-dash production has managed to gain the nationwide reputation of a classic, with most of its memorable quotes nearly approaching the status of catch-phrases.

The film can be tentatively recommended to advanced learners of Russian and certainly to all those who specialize in the study of this language.