About the film
Engineer Shurik builds a time machine in his flat, and an accident sends his fussy neighbour, building manager Bunsha, and a charming burglar named Miloslavsky to the court of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. At the same moment the real tsar lands in 1970s Moscow.
Bunsha must pretend to be a tsar who sends armies into battle; the tsar must survive a communal apartment, a tape recorder and the police. Gaidai turns Bulgakov's play into a riot of costume comedy and songs.
This is the film Russians most often name as the funniest ever made. It is light, fast and a great introduction to Soviet comedy.
Did you know?
- More than 60 million people saw it in its first year.
- Yuri Yakovlev plays both the tsar and his double.
- It was shot partly in Rostov the Great, whose kremlin stands in for Moscow's.
