Oscar Nominations
Best Picture
Best Adapted Screenplay - Damien Chazelle
Best Supporting Actor - J.K. Simmons
Best Film Editing - Tom Cross
Best Sound Mixing
Given the Academy’s propensity this year (and, let’s face it, most other years) to lionize standard stories that adhere to the tropes it likes and de-emphasize films that break from the mold by subverting those tropes, I wasn’t expecting Whiplash to be as amazing as it turned out to be. The plot at surface level appears to yet another student-mentor tale, akin to Dead Poets Society or Stand and Deliver, and yet director and writer Damien Chazelle has crafted something uniquely brilliant, forcing the audience to contemplate the very nature of art and the means by which artists attain it.
The story is that of first-year music student Andrew Neimann
(Miles Teller), a solitary young man with one goal: to be the best damn drummer
ever. While practicing one day, he is
confronted by the school’s infamous Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), who,
though berating and dismissive, eventually recruits Andrew into his prodigal jazz
band class. Fletcher begins to show a
more human and understanding side to Andrew, but only as a means to pull the
rug out from underneath him and attack his slightest inadequacies. Fletcher even goes so far as to throw a chair
at Andrew and make him practice for hours on end until he can master the
correct tempo. This in turn pushes Andrew
to become better at his craft, but consequently pushes away everyone who is
close to him and starts him down a road of self-destruction.
The central question the film poses is whether or not
Fletcher’s actions are justified, and it is remarkably agnostic on this point,
portraying the events in ways that emphasize both arguments for and against
abuse as a means of enabling artistic greatness. As Fletcher memorably says, there are no two
words more harmful than “good job.”
However, is that push towards greatness worth the potential ruination of
the artist’s life, or the lives of those who simply aren’t cut out to achieve
at that level? The film provides no
answers, but lets the audience take everything in to reach its own conclusion.
And yet, the film is not devoid of passion in either of its
perspectives. When Andrew is suffering,
we see him sweat, bleed, and casually destroy the social connections that
define most of our existences. And yet,
when he’s playing well, we see a god on the stool, playing just as well as the
masters and destroying the boundaries of what we thought within his
limits. I didn’t believe that a film
about music could have me cringing on the edge of my seat, by Whiplash has some of the most intense
editing and sound mixing in recent memory, turning every drum performance
Andrew gives into a waiting game to see if he can maintain his speed and
grace. When he stumbles, we breathe a
sigh of disappointment, but are thankful that his intense exertion has
momentarily ended. When he succeeds, the
intensity of the performance is so overwhelming as to seemingly defy reality.
“Whiplash” is the name of a jazz piece central to the film’s
musical performances, but it is also a great description of the feeling the
film will evoke in you. Whether watching
Fletcher’s methodical and sadistic manipulation of Andrew, or watching Andrew
alternately crash and soar in his chosen craft, this film is an emotional
roller coaster that has few true contemporaries. The climax in particular will leave you awe-struck,
proving Damien Chazelle as one of the greats in contemporary cinematic
direction. I recognize that at the time
of writing this film is not playing in many theaters, but if you cannot get to
a theater, I wholeheartedly recommend finding this film as soon as it hits
digital release or physical disc format.
It truly deserves its place in the Best Picture nominations.
Have a favorite mentor flick? Share it in the comments below.
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