Tickets: $8

Showtime: 8pm

The Psychotronic Film Society’s long-running and award-winning weekly Wednesday night series of overlooked or marginalized feature films from around the world continues at the Sentient Bean Coffeehouse on Aug. 1 with an extremely rare public viewing of the 1973 Russian sci-fi satire “Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future.”

Directed by Leonid Gaidai, who is known as perhaps the greatest Russian director of comedic films (his films broke box-office records in that country and are as popular over there as “Monty Python” films are in Britain or Judd Apatow or Paul Feig films are here in the USA). This nutty historical farce concerns a nebbish-y fellow named Shurik who develops a working time machine. However, in a strange twist of events, a petty thief and the manager of Shurik’s apartment complex are both accidentally sent into 16th century Moscow while the evil Tsar Ivan the Terrible is sent forward in time to 1973. This situation allows for all sorts of goofing on the then-current state of the Soviet Union (which could likely never have been done onscreen were it not couched in a sci-fi/fantasy realm).

While a certain amount of the humor in this film hinges on cultural misunderstandings and verbal confusion between the modern-age folks and their ancient counterparts, a strong knowledge of Russian history and the nuance of that country’s language is not required to enjoy the movie. There are plenty of universally understood and appreciated comedic moments that can appeal to viewers of all backgrounds. Plus, there’s plenty of physical and even slapstick comedy on display. In fact, some have compared the film’s pace, style and good-natured humor to Rob Reiner’s adorable cult classic “The Princess Bride.”

Packed with many of the biggest Soviet stars of that time, the film generated catchphrases, which are still known and used to this day in Russia. The PFS will screen the full, uncut version, which has never been released in the USA, in spoken Russian and German, with English subtitles.