Тодд Aлдерман
Иван Васильевич
“Иван Васильевич” is obviously a well renowned comedy from Russia. It had classic comedic lines that have been used in many countries. This film utilized many historic Russian events to heighten its comedic value making it one to remember. Since its original release, some of its humor has been reused even in American comedies. The acting in the film was similar in quality to the acting of Hollywood at that time. Many similarities can be seen in America and Russia simply by watching such a comedic favorite.
“Иван Васильевич” takes place in the city of Moscow, in what seems to be an apartment complex in the middle of the city. Shurik, a disorganized scientist, is experimenting with the prospect of time travel. He has built an experimental prototype but is finding difficulty in supplying enough voltage to power the machine. The apparent landlord, named Ivan Vasilevich keeps badgering Shurik to the point of threatening to report him to the government. Shurik’s wife is apparently having and affair with a producer that she works for and walks into the apartment to tell her husband that she is leaving him and is going to Gagry with her lover. Meanwhile in the suite next door, a common thief has broken in and is stealing common items from the film maker that lives there. Now once Zinochka (the wife) leaves, Ivan Vasilevich walks back in badgering Shurik and saying he must register his machine with the government or be arrested. He quickly explains that it is a time machine and that it works now and he can prove it. He swiftly cranks up the machine and after some gurgles and strange movie magic, the wall adjacent to the producer’s suite vanishes and the burglar is amazed to see the two gentlemen in the room next to him. He enters the room with the Shurik and insists on knowing what is going on, while Ivan Vasilevich demands to know what he was doing in the producer’s room. The thief blows him off and asks for another demonstration. Shurik then sets the machine back to the days of Ivan the Terrible. Chaos breaks out when Shurik opens the portal again and Ivan the Terrible sees the three men and calls them demons. The thief and the landlord run into the past through the time portal and Ivan the Terrible runs into the present time. Now a guard throws a spear into the machine and short-circuits it thus closing the portal and trapping everyone where they don’t belong. The two men are chased around the palace until they disguise themselves as the tsar and a prince. The real tsar is in Shurik’s suite waiting for repairs on the time machine and begins to learn about his host and what is going on in his life and how he has traveled through time. Now after much chaos in the present and the past, the machine is fixed and the characters are returned to there correct times. However, after the adventure is over Shurik awakes to find that the entire thing is just a dream. Even Zinochka’s affair was a dream and Yakin, the producer, doesn’t even exist. Shurik is just ecstatic that everything is back to normal and that he didn’t mess up history.
This tail uses many quick-witted jokes with ironic lessons and if it were a film in English of the same time period, I would probably not be able to distinguish it from any American film. The comedy used is common to all countries but is just applied based on the history of the particular culture. For example the joke about the man on the street selling capacitors has been used in many countries but has just been done with different products. Also the chase scenes in comedies are often done in high speed to increase the hilarity. Obviously this film is a classic because the same type films in America were becoming classics as well.
Russian culture in the film is displayed in the way of life for the actors. I can safely assume that most inner city life is lived in apartment complexes of roughly the same size as Shurik’s. And most of the clothing was common to the people of that day. All of the interior decorating was probably common to the people of Shurik’s status in the community. All of this was not very different from any other country. The landscape of the Russian monuments was the only thing that set it apart from any other county’s inner city life.
Overall “Иван Васильевич” is a popular comedy in Russia not because of the culture of the country but because of the people in the country. The humor used is common to all people no matter the country, and films from all over the world used this type comedy because all people are amused by the same type of jokes. Any film would have used the same comedic approach to entertain the audience of that time. This classic Russian comedy will be remembered, not because it was a Russian film or because it is about Ivan the Terrible but simply because it was funny.