Whiplash

There maybe some spoiler-y references and extrapolations from the trailer.

Whiplash sees a promising young drummer enrol at a prestigious music school, where a teacher pushes him to the limit in order to meet his dreams of greatness. Miles Teller plays Andrew, a talented, socially inept young man, enrolling at a famous music school and dreams of joining the music conservatory to eventually become a ‘great’. Andrew’s teacher Fletcher played by J.K. Simmons is an infamous instructor, conductor, teacher and somewhat torturer.

This film is very good. Miles Teller plays Andrew well, a young man who is driven and has an ego that reinforces his belief that he can be great. Fletcher furthers this since his ego and Andrew’s go off against each other. The constant toing and froing leads to riveting scenes, where you are waiting for the next line to be thrown out. Simmons will win the Academy Award for best support actor. He steals the entire film, you will feel your skin crawl when he enters a scene, everything in the film seems to pause for what he says or does. The way he delivers his lines is harsh and almost comedic due to its discomfort; his physical presence is unquestionable and unwavering and his whole existence just permeates the entire film and for me, even more so when he’s talked about or referenced.

The themes of the film are talent, the arts and what defines greatness. These are all combined with a question proposed to the audience. Is what Andrew is willing to go through worth the result? Or does the end justify the means? This is an enthralling topic of discussion and one that does truly divide. As a film, it toys with harsh love, bully vs. victim and this is never answered. The film has an ending that would suggest one answer, yet never says it was worth it or whether as a parent/teacher/friend we should encourage mental, emotion and physical pain for a goal, even if we deem it worthy.

The music itself is sensational, tough and draining even for the audience. We only feel part of Andrew’s exhaustion but this is all done very powerfully with the edits, visuals and sound of the movie being harsh like a drum yet constantly snappy and clever. Recognition to Teller, for actually playing the drums throughout, it was captivating to watch.

I have given it some thought and although this film contains a quite unbelievable scene, that if you’ve seen the film will know, it has the best ending I can remember. The last third and in particular the last 15 minutes just took my breath away and I actually walked out with my heart racing. It is a sublime movie.  This is a great film.