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Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future

Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession
Ivan Vasilievich poster.jpg
Evseev-Zolotarevsky's film poster
Directed by Leonid Gaidai
Written by Original play:
Mikhail Bulgakov
Screenplay:
Vladlen Bakhnov
Leonid Gaidai
Starring Yuri Yakovlev
Leonid Kuravlev
Aleksandr Demyanenko
Natalia Selezneva
Natalia Krachkovskaya
Music by Aleksandr Zatsepin / Leonid Derbenev
Release date
  • 1973 (1973)
Running time
93 min
Country Soviet Union
Language Russian / German

Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession (Russian: Иван Васильевич меняет профессию, translit. Ivan Vasilyevich menyayet professiyu) is a Soviet comic science fiction film directed by Leonid Gaidai in 1973. In the United States the film has sometimes been sold under the title Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future. This film is based on the play Ivan Vasilievich[] by Mikhail Bulgakov and was one of the most attended movies in the Soviet Union in 1973 with more than 60 million tickets sold.

The story begins in 1973 Moscow, where Engineer Aleksandr (Shurik) Timofeev (Aleksandr Demyanenko) is working on a time machine in his apartment. By accident, he sends Ivan Vasilevich Bunsha (Yuri Yakovlev), superintendent of his apartment building, and George Miloslavsky (Leonid Kuravlev), a small-time burglar, back into the time of Ivan IV "The Terrible". The pair is forced to disguise themselves, with Bunsha dressing up as Ivan IV (tsar) and Miloslavsky as a knyaz (prince) of the same name. At the same time, the real Ivan IV (also played by Yuri Yakovlev) is sent by the same machine into Shurik's apartment, he has to deal with modern-day life while Shurik tries to fix the machine so that everyone can be brought back to their proper place in time. Superintendent Bunsha and Tzar Ivan IV the Terrible are lookalikes but have completely different personalities, which results in funny situations of mistaken identity. As the police (tipped off by a neighbor who was burgled by Miloslavsky) close in on Shurik, who is frantically trying to repair the machine, the cover of Bunsha and Miloslavsky is blown and they have to fight off the Streltsy, who have figured out that Bunsha is an impostor. The movie ends with Bunsha, Miloslavsky, and Ivan IV all transported back to their proper places, although the entire episode is revealed to be a dream by Shurik. Or was it?


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