Whiplash

“There are no two words more harmful in the English language than ‘good job’’… but Whiplash certainly depicts greater adjectives. This film drama about a young, talented, impressionable drummer, Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) in a cutthroat music conservatory, illustrates the blood, sweat and tears of attempting to achieve greatness when an intimidating music conductor, Terrance Fletcher (J.K Simmons) makes it all that much harder.

This film is directed by up-and-coming, Damien Chazelle, who built the story from his own past experiences, and the nightmares that he was still reliving about his own malevolent music teacher. The film starts with a focus upon portraying the emotional rollercoaster but quickly becomes shot like a thriller getting almost uncomfortably up close and personal, that you quite literally see the physical toll (blood and sweat) of drumming. The shooting style imitates that of a 70s paranoia movie (like Chinatown or Psycho), taking influences from the infamous musical West Side Story but also silent films; such as moments through the film where it is purely cinema, just the juxtaposition of long frames/image to the jazz sound.

The pivotal duo of the protagonist (Andrew Neiman) and antagonist (Terrance Fletcher) and their almost weirdly twisted love story relationship is central throughout the film, from the ups and downs, to the love-hate.

The dedicated student, Andrew, has the skill and the drive to be the next prodigy, however it is the added anxiety and exhaustion affixed by Fletch, which has the possibility to derail his personal life (if not everything else). Terrance Fletcher however, can be described as our anti-hero of sorts, he thrives on intimidation; his purposely single-minded focus of blind ambition to realize a musician’s potential can have costly collateral damage. But what cost is too great?

The masterful job of casting and directing is completely evident through these wondrous performances. The fact that Chazelle manages to turn a potentially permissive drum solo into a heart racing enthralling performance, that despite some melancholic undertones, you will end watching this film with a swing in your step, the indelible jazz songs spinning around in your head and the eagerness to bang on a drum set, as this is a film you will want to tell everyone about.