Whiplash (2014)

Before watching this film, I did not know a drum practice session could be this tense. Whiplash is a jazz music drama, but the experience of watching it is closer to a thriller. The tension driving the whole film is the relationship between first-year music student Andrew (Miles Teller) — determined to become the greatest drummer — and conductor Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), who uses extreme methods in the name of making him a genius. My rating is ★4.5. The energy packed into 106 minutes does not flicker once until the very end.

What it’s about — Violent training meant to forge a genius

Andrew Neiman, a student at a prestigious music conservatory, catches the eye of the school’s top conductor Terence Fletcher and joins his elite band. But Fletcher’s training methods go well beyond merely strict. Personal degradation, physical intimidation, and extreme pressure are everyday occurrences. Andrew pushes himself further and further to become a better drummer within this environment, and in doing so begins to sacrifice both relationships and his body.

Direction — Drum practice turned into psychological war

Damien Chazelle completely succeeds in turning the repetitive act of drum practice into a source of cinematic tension. Rapid-cut editing, the amplified sound of drumsticks hitting the head, close-ups soaked in sweat and blood — all of these transform simple music practice into a psychological war. Every scene in which Fletcher appears carries a this-could-explode tension, and that tension is never released even once until the final concert sequence.

Performance — Simmons, not a simple villain

J.K. Simmons won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this film — a win that was entirely warranted. Why is Fletcher frightening when no other villain is this frightening? Because he is sometimes right, sometimes appealing, and his methods demonstrably produce results. That complexity is what prevents the character from being a simple villain. Miles Teller handles much of the actual drumming himself, meaning Andrew’s physical deterioration is felt directly on screen.

What the film says — What is the price of greatness

Whiplash poses a question about the cost of greatness. Fletcher’s methods are clearly wrong. And yet it is also true that the extreme pressure makes Andrew a better player. If you want greatness, must you pay that price? Or is greatness possible without that cost? The film does not answer easily. The final drum solo is the most intense expression of that question.

Ratings & reception

TMDB scores it 8.4. IMDb gives it 8.5 and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 94% — both very high. At the Academy Awards it won J.K. Simmons’s Best Supporting Actor, plus Film Editing and Sound Editing — three categories total. It first attracted attention by winning both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance simultaneously. This film — Damien Chazelle’s debut feature for all practical purposes — became the launching point for a career that would continue with La La Land and First Man.

What doesn’t quite work

There is a criticism that the film appears to somewhat justify Fletcher’s methods — his approach may be effective in producing results in music education. There is also the criticism that the female characters around Andrew are drawn very shallowly. The scene where Andrew ends his romantic relationship serves to show his obsession but makes the other character feel instrumentalized. The film’s ending also deliberately keeps its moral verdict on Fletcher’s methods ambiguous — whether to read that as an artistic choice or an evasion varies by viewer.

Verdict

Whiplash is short and intense. When the 106 minutes end, you feel as though you have just been through something extreme. It is a music film you watch like a thriller, and a thriller in which music is the core. J.K. Simmons’s Fletcher will remain one of the most memorable teacher characters in cinema for a long time to come.

Recommended for

• Those who want intense drama and music together
• Those who want to see J.K. Simmons’s performance
• Those looking for a short, densely packed film