Damien Chazelle’s “Whiplash” (2014) is a dark, suspenseful film which casts awe and horror at the things one must do in order to achieve greatness. The critically acclaimed movie concentrates on the raw passion and sacrifices one young drummer takes in order to be the best, as well as the obsessive way in which his drive for music consumes him.
In the film, we follow the story of a first-year jazz student at a prestigious school—Andrew (Miles Teller). He’s grown up with a pure love for drumming, fuelled by his role model Buddy Rich, but this love turns into something much more once he meets his manipulative band conductor, Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). Fletcher sees potential in Andrew and decides to bully and abuse him for his own pleasure.
Fletcher calls Andrew degrading homophobic slurs, humiliates him in front of the entire band, and chucks a chair at him for good measure. Despite all of this, Andrew does not give up. He wants to please Fletcher with his musical skills. He also wants to be great, to be perfect, to be the best. In a graphic scene we see the wannabe drummer practising until midnight with his drumsticks until his hands bleed. He dunks his hands into ice to numb the pain and keeps going.
“Whiplash” hits all the right places—it entertains us through a clever plot and superb cinematography, whilst also asking us if we are willing to make that struggle to be the best. Personally, I rate the film a solid ten out of ten. The ending is arguably the best one that I’ve seen so far, and I’ve watched a lot of movies.
Keep in mind though, “Whiplash” does contain quite a bit of profanity and a lot of blood, so I wouldn’t show this to immature children (though they probably won’t get the message anyway). If you have a great passion or a dream that you want to fulfill one day, this is a must-see.
