*****
A talented young jazz drummer
longs to be accepted into his school’s orchestra, managed by a prolific and
respected teacher. When the opportunity arises, however, he comes to realise
that he may have bitten off more than he can chew.
I’ll admit, the premise is a
little strange: ‘a film about jazz drumming’ seems hardly an action-packed
thriller, emotional drama or bleak character study… and yet ‘Whiplash’ is all
off these things. From the opening few shots of Andrew Neimann (Miles Teller)
thrashing a drum kit for all it’s worth whilst the tyrannical Fletcher (J.K.
Simmons) stands in the doorway, the tension grips you and fails to let up until
the credits roll. Essentially a battle between a driven and obsessive protégé and
his overbearing, despotic master, ‘Whiplash’ is filled with intense,
scrutinising close-ups and long sequences in which Andrew pounds the drums
whilst Fletcher abuses him, unsympathetic towards his bleeding palms and
laboured breathing.
One of the greatest strengths of
the film is that we are not told what to feel: we are not told how to react to
Fletcher, or whether we are meant to like Andrew. Is Fletcher a bully? Is he
actually a genius? Is Andrew as cruel as Fletcher, only in a different way? The
moral remains as ambiguous as the two central characters, brilliantly encapsulated
by the stand-out performances from Teller and Simmons. Simmons has long be a
favourite actor of mine, from when he was a scathing editor in the ‘Spiderman’
series to Juno’s loving dad, and hopefully his performance will be awarded with
the recognition it deserves.
There is a moment in the dénouement
which made the entire audience gasp. It is a perfectly understated and yet
terrible line that fills the audience with such fear, such loathing, such
panic, that I felt my heartbeat rise and my palms (pressed to my mouth at this
point) become sweaty. I had wanted the film to finish earlier, at a
cliff-hanger that arises about ten minutes before this final scene as I felt
the film was dragging after the emotional rollercoaster witnessed beforehand… But
after having lived through the concluding act, it can only be said that
director Damien Chazelle as created the perfect ending. Afterwards, I felt as
though I needed a good stiff drink, and certainly a long lay down.
On the surface, ‘Whiplash’
appears to be about drumming, but this is not the case: this is a film about
power and obsession; manipulation and betrayal. I will wholly admit to not
being terribly interested in seeing it as it sounded so obscure, almost pretentious,
but I advise you to go and see ‘Whiplash’. Take a bottle of water.
Comments
Post a Comment