Finally taking a break from the awful parody films I have been watching lately, as well as having seen what feels like the entire community other than me seeing Tetris, I had one last push by @nameless16 to check it out. My exposure to the film has been nothing but reading the reviews here, not really seeing any mentions of it elsewhere -- perhaps those parody films just completely destroyed my brain -- so I wasn't really sure what to expect from it. The world of video games within cinema has always been a tricky thing to explore, mostly due to out of touch production companies that were just too old and unaware of these worlds and stories. But it seems that as times change and younger filmmakers enter the sphere, things might actually be picking up.
While the game of Tetris was once massive, I am quite surprised that Hollywood actually gave this film a chance. Particularly with the current relations between Russia and the west. It seems like a bit of a gamble, and one that is certainly more focused on western markets as it's more of an English focused film despite the Russian history. With filming in Russia being what production companies would consider high risk (interestingly considering the film explores the tensions between the west and Russia during the Cold War and start of the collapse of the USSR), I think the funniest thing about the whole film was that modern Scotland is a worthy location for portraying communist, economically decayed Russia. To be honest, watching this just made me curious as to what a Russian portrayal of this story would be like.
After watching the film I had a little look through IMDB at the trivia section, something I do with every film I watch to just out of curiosity regarding the production. I read that while in pre-production, there was a big interest in gathering as much accurate information as possible regarding the events, but that very little of it was used. Perhaps that old Hollywood fictionalised exaggeration still creeping into the video game movies. But I don't think the exaggeration was too farfetched, just ensuring that the film had a bit more tension and a climax given the lengthier runtime. Still, it was an interesting watch. And quite the contrast to the nonsense I have been watching as of late!
Tetris
When I wasn't polluting my mind with parody films, at one point I was a student that studied modern history. This ranged from the political events that led to World War 1 and Word War 2, as well as the Cold War and inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union. I've always been quite fascinated with the history of these three events, though the Cold War remains one that even today I still find myself reading into and exploring. I feel this might be a result of how the Cold War just never really ended, and the cycle just repeats itself as two primary nations find themselves in dispute over, well, greed. And it is greed that caused the collapse of the USSR, greed that led to the threats of nuclear war, and greed that has resulted in decades of misery for the Russian people. It is always interesting to see how these two very walled-off nations perceive each other. How Russia sees the west, and how the west sees Russia. The truth is, I don't think either side really knows each other, and a lack of proper communication has only exacerbated things.
I write this because Tetris as a western film almost reads like a telling of the Cold War itself. A story on how two rival nations aim for some sort of connection at a time of high tension, and how greed ultimately comes into the equation to screw things up. In the middle of all of this can be found regular people, with their own lifestyles and cultures to attend to. While Tetris is just a game, the real game being played was one of profit, individuals trying to get ahead of the other, each person or party trying to see a way to gain an advantage from all of this. A quest for some sort of collaboration merely becomes a test of how far one can make the other bend to their will. Capitalism is of course a way of life that has oddly normalised this idea, but it's interesting to see how those under communism were still seeking a way out; especially as economic situations worsened as Russia slowly began its attempt away from communism and Republics of the USSR soon became former Republics.
Tetris being made during the times of the USSR meant that no company or individual could really benefit from it. It couldn't be sold or owned by any business that wasn't directly affiliated with the government, and with the west slowly taking an attempt away from arcade machines and into personal gaming devices, some individuals saw massive opportunity for having the rights to publish Tetris on those devices; this would also be because Tetris was made freely as it couldn't be sold. So who owned the rights? This question becomes the battle between the west and Soviet Union as companies attempted to fight for the rights, ultimately causing a big political game with pretty much everyone on either side being corrupt in one way or another. Though this telling of Tetris shows this all from the perspective of an individual that aimed to do things properly, still using that capitalistic nature to gain an edge above others, but aiming to do things both right, fairly, and with understanding towards the true creator of the game.
Welsh actor Taron Egerton plays an American living in Japan working in the video game industry, finding himself running off to Russia to essentially beg for those rights; a pretty stupid thing of which the film admits, to run off to the USSR at such a time and begin roaming around with capitalist interests. It makes our protagonist look a bit stupid, but certainly ambitious and clearly desperate to gain what he wants. While much of the film takes place in Moscow (Scotland), we get some glimpses of back home to where our protagonist has his family, it gives a bit of perspective regarding his chaotic worklife, as well as how much he's wanting to provide a much higher standard of living to them; much to the lack of realisation of how much he's risking and that the real success is just being there for family and watching them flourish. Since the film obviously could not be shot in Russia, and genuine Russian actors could not be used, a lot of the film is in English. Something I can be a bit weird about and would prefer just to read subtitles. But there is some Russian speaking still, mostly from unknown actors that may have some sort of Russian background or at least Eastern European. I did like that we still get some Russian speaking over the whole film being in English, but it did feel like it was stepping lightly as to not distance itself from the audience that may not like reading subtitles.
It felt a bit clear that much of the film was exaggerated for drama purposes, which is something I can't say I enjoyed. I think I would have preferred more accuracy over the story rather than action and drama. It sort of returns us back to the idea that these two nations don't quite take each other seriously, needing to twist reality slightly. Though I'm sure a Tetris telling from Russia would be no different. It did mean that sometimes it was a bit harder to follow and appreciate the story because it didn't feel so authentic. But for a video game story, I think it did well in the way it portrayed itself. Visually, it's a very nice film. The lighting is very cinematic, mostly utilising strong white backlights and darker environments. Generally warmer tones aside from when the film aimed to portray Russia, to which it returned to the typical dark industrial greys and browns. This is the type of production quality I have managed to expect and notice from productions under the Apple TV+ name.
It certainly has more of a blockbuster appeal, and I think it approaches that quite well in all regards. It does feel like a film you would find in the cinema, with actors you either haven't seen before or haven't seen in a while, still with a few recognisable faces. But the main appeal here is the story of Tetris, after all!
