The movie,Tetrisstarts with Henk failing to sell a game he developed himself at the Consumer Electronic Show, only for him to come acrossTetris,a puzzle gamebeing marketed by one of his competitors at the event. He falls in love and decides to risk all that he has to bring the game out to the world.
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In a nutshell, the Apple TV+ movie is based on a true life story of the invention and eventual worldwide distribution of the world-renowned game of the same name. The movie’s overall effect is quite riveting that viewers might get so immersed to the extent of missing out on some of the more nuanced and smaller details.
5The Use of Animated Graphics
The story of howTetrismade its way out of the closed-off Soviet Union to the world outside is not a linear one. It is an intriguing tale of technological advancement that pitted communism against capitalism and there are many key players.
Usually, such a plot can have the tendency to get confusing because so many individuals and corporations contributed to its growth. However, byusing animated graphicsto tell selected parts of the story and introduce certain key players, the creators were able to mitigate this. For instance, illustrations were used to show Henk’s journey from one end of the world to another and some of the more complicated intricacies of the invention and distribution processes, which made the story easier to digest.
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Apart from being aesthetically pleasing and simplifying the storyline, these animated sequences also got rid of any political undertone one might have expected from such a movie. By using animations that were basically designed from collections ofTetrisblocks, viewers instinctively understand that the movie is focused on the game itself rather than the political climate of the time and the location of the story.
4The “Levis'” Scenario
In the movie, the Levi scenario happened when Henk managed to cajole Alexey to take him out. At the club, a lady addressed her audience claiming that the Estonians have taken to the streets to declare their independence and the blocks have begun to fall. She spotted Henk while rounding up her speech and said that “We want Levi too” inferring that because Levi is a Western brand, they do not have access to it.
This seemingly innocuous statement shows their yearning for freedom, it shows the extent to which the community stifles its inhabitants by denying them even the right to choose what to wear. This scene also hinted at the eventual fall of the Soviet Union.
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Levi is also used to foreground the themes of independence and hypocrisy in the next scene as some KGB agents attack Henk and tell him “Thank you for the Levi.” Henk is next seen walking into his hotel with just his boxers, insinuating that the agents stole his trousers. That scene simply shows the hypocrisy of the upholders of the law, while they subdue and force the masses to abide by the strict laws, they also yearn for the freedom to live without them.
3The Significance of The Blocks in Tetris
The blocks in theTetrisgame are symbolic. There is a scene where Henk visits Alexey’s house and requests to see theoriginal version of the game. After watching for a while, he asks Alexey why the blocks aren’t falling at once, and he replies, “I never thought of that.” This shows the psychological limitations living in such a controlled environment has placed on Alexey’s mind.
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The blocks in the games seem to represent the restriction the Soviet Union placed on its citizens; consequently, making the blocks fall one after the other symbolizes individuals chaffing at the restrictions, but when they finally come together, they are able to achieve their goal of freedom. Ultimately, Henk and Alexey bonded as they worked together on making the blocks fall at once, and the latter finally drops his cold demeanor and warms up to the former.
2The Dark Theme
The parts of the story that plays out in Moscow are decidedly dark and dreary. Most viewers will agree that this is obvious, from the buildings, clothes, and interiors down to the people’s demeanor, and even their nightclub!
The dark themeand coloring are deliberately used to foreground the dreary lives of the citizens of the Soviet Union as opposed to the light and airy spaces and colors that characterized the scenes set in other countries. The last scene inTetrisalso features a juxtaposition of colors as Henk went to the airport in a flowery shirt with his family in their equally colorful clothes to welcome Alexey and his family in their typically dark clothes.
1The Reunion
While the movie itself is based on real-life people and events, the creators exercised some artistic license. One such instance includes the KGB agent-turned-translator, Sasha, and theepic car racetowards the end of the movie. None of these are true.
One of the more serious artistic liberties they take inTetrisis evident in the reunion of Hank and Alexey at the end of the movie when the latter lands at the airport inSan Francisco. However, in reality, he didn’t move to San Francisco; rather, history has it that Alexey and his family moved to Seattle in 1991. There, he worked for Henk at his company, Bulletproof Software, before they finally set up The Tetris Company five years later. The friends went on to create many other games together.
