AFF: God of Tetris

"It felt like the completion of a story arc of my life that I've always felt kind of sad about." Thor Aackerlund, master of the vibrating thumb, on 'Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters' at the Austin Film Festival (Photo by Richard Whittaker)

Billy Mitchell. Anyone who has seen 2007 SXSW favorite The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters will have an opinion about the arrogant Donky Kong champ. Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters attempts to give block-turning icon Thor Aackerlund the same recognition but a better reputation.

Ecstasy of Order gets an Austin Film Festival encore screening tonight at 8:30pm. It is, at first glance, the story of self-proclaimed "Tetris super-fan" Robin Mihara and his efforts in 2010 to crown the first ever Classic Tetris champion. Within that friendly, nerdy drama, the documentary makes a solid case for Tetris being the great intellectual challenge of the 20th century, a puzzle game of such infinite variety and fiendish cunning that its upper levels defy both human skill and computer challenger. As befits the world's most-played game, the best of the best are a strange interlocking mix of characters, any of whom could have been the film's central character. During Saturday's AFF post-show Q&A Mihara said, "The movie started off a lot more about me" but test audiences knew which piece would completed the puzzle: "The first couple of times we showed the film and stopped when the tournament started and asked, 'Who do you want to win?' … Everyone yelled 'Thor!'"

For hardcore gaming enthusiasts, Aackerlund is already a shamanic figure. He was the winner of the 1990 Nintendo World Championship and innovator of the vibrating thumb technique (this is a game where the best players enter a zen state, so mad ninja skills are no shocker.) But where Mitchell could not wait to be in front of the camera, often trailed by his acolytes, Aackerlund had disappeared without trace. Save for a few rumors and Tweets of extraordinary Tetris achievements, he had dropped off the gaming radar. "The most difficult part was getting Thor to come," Mihara said, and even he was unsure what Aackerlund would be like. "Anyone who saw King of Kong knew that Bill Mitchell was a straight villain, and a lot of people wondered if Thor was going to be a villain. Then he turns up and blows you away how great a guy he is."

Now the story is out there, the reclusive Aackerlund said "It felt like the completion of a story arc of my life that I've always felt kind of sad about."

AFF presents an encore screening of Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters, Oct. 27, 8:30pm, Hideout Theatre, 617 Congress.