“Tetris”, the story of one of the most popular video games ever

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At the origin of one of the most famous video games in history: “Tetris” has arrived on Apple TV+, a film by Jon S. Baird starring Taron Egerton and Nikita Efremov.
At the basis of the film is the story of the game that quickly became a real popular icon: invented by the Russian programmer Aleksej Leonidovič Pažitinov in 1984, Tetris had exponential growth becoming already widespread by the end of the decade.

Taron Egerton in the film plays Henk Rogers, an entrepreneur who discovers Tetris in 1988 and decides to bet everything on the video game by traveling to the Soviet Union, where he joins forces with its inventor to be able to bring the product to the attention of the masses. Inspired by the true story at the origin of the video game’s fame, the film dwells at length on the legal battles over the ownership of Tetris, which arose after its success in the midst of the Cold War, focusing heavily on this historical-political aspect which directly connects with the evolution and growth of the video game itself.

Mixing news and mythology, this feature film could be defined to all intents and purposes as a spy thriller, despite the fact that there is no shortage of comedy passages and moments in which various genres mix. Faced with this film, other titles relating to the creation of a mass phenomenon may come to mind – such as “The Social Network”, on the birth of Facebook, or the recent “BlackBerry”, seen at the last Berlin Film Festival – but “Tetris ” however has its own identity that manages to distinguish it from possible reference models.

A journey through time

Seeing this film is also taking a journey through time, not only for the historical references, but also for a stylistic attitude that takes up typical methods of the eighties, such as to be able to insert this product in that large group of titles that tell (nostalgically? ) that decade, always very present as a reference for today’s cinema. Jon S. Baird (director who in the past had directed several TV series, including “Vinyl”, or films such as “Laurel & Hardy”) does not have a particularly delicate hand and “Tetris” often exceeds by following far too overflowing aesthetic keys, even if on the whole it remains consistent with its reference area and with a subject that has its main strength precisely in creativity. Even the screenplay uses a few cunning too many, but the pace holds up to the end and the entire script still manages to involve and intrigue from the first to the last sequence.

Earth and dust

Among the novelties in theaters there is, however, the Chinese film “Earth and Dust” by Li Ruijun, presented in competition at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival. Set in a very poor area in north-western China, the film tells the story of a man and a woman who lead difficult lives to say the least. The two, who are no longer very young and who are beginning to be a burden on their respective families, decide to get married in an arranged marriage. It is the story of the evolution of a relationship, from an initial tender and modest encounter a solid and precious bond will be born over time, which will push them to improve their lives, trying with their own strength to overcome the extreme poverty that grips, working the land and living off its fruits. The result is a sweet love story between two characters abandoned by society and families, capable of moving and touching deep chords. However, there are several passages that are too didactic, which make the all too scholastic and a little lacking in real artistic flashes capable of raising the level (although good) of the operation. In any case, a film to be seen, yet another confirmation of the remarkable state of health of contemporary Chinese cinema.