Mild Spoilers
It’s rare that a film leaves me as emotionally drained and
left with a genuine sense of “wow” as Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, which I saw at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax. I
don’t know if Whiplash is a great
film but there’s no doubt in my mind it's a visceral experience
that stayed with me hours after the film ended. If you still believe that
films can shock and hit you right in the stomach, then go see this film when it’s
released this October.
Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) is an ambitious young drummer
at the Shaffer Conservatory of Music in Manhattan who becomes a player in the
studio band run by Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). But Fletcher isn’t merely a
conductor. He’s a tyrant who pushes his students beyond their limits, verbally abusing them and even threatening physical violence . Andrew is
soon caught in a whirlpool of obsession. An obsession with greatness, whatever
the cost.
Not since R. Lee Ermey in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket has an authority figure
been portrayed with such terrifying conviction. And Simmons truly is terrifying
in this film. You don’t want to be in a room with this guy when he explodes.
And even when he’s not verbally abusing his student, he’s so intimidating that
the film becomes more suspenseful than most thrillers. Even if the scenario of
a music teacher essentially being a drill sergeant isn’t completely believable, I
always believe Simmons.
In movies like this the bigger performance gets most of the
attention. And while Simmons deserves his praise, Teller is also worthy of notice.
In certain ways Teller has the more difficult role to play, needing to balance
being a sympathetic protagonist and displaying Andrew’s crueler side. He
breaks up with his girlfriend Nicole (Melissa Benoist) because he believes she’s
preventing him from achieving greatness. And when he does call off the
relationship he does so with so remorse. He’s also quite arrogant at a dinner
get together with his family. Teller plays both sides of the character very
well. I never hated Andrew but I didn’t always like him either. What I admire about the film is the dynamic between Andrew and Fletcher isn't black and white. Fletcher is black but Andrew
is a shade of grey.
While these two men feel opposed on the film’s
surface I think both Andrew and Fletcher need each other in a twisted kind of way. Andrew
wants to be broken down an built back up by Fletcher. And Fletcher wants Andrew to be thick skinned enough
to prove Fletcher’s philosophy- which he lays out near
the film’s end- that "[t]here are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job.'" The only way to truly be great is if someone viscously criticizes you. Fletcher recounts how Charlie "Bird" Parker had a cymbal thrown at him by Jo Jones after messing up while playing with Jones. In Fletcher's view if that incident never happened Parker never would have become a legendary sax player. Even Andrew believes that Parker dying at 34 doesn't matter since Parker is still remembered for achievements.
The film takes on a “art imitates life” quality. Not
only is the film is about pushing artists to the edge but Simmons and Teller had to sweat blood to make this film. Simmons has never been as ferocious
as he is here and Teller gives a physically draining performance. Teller was already a
drummer before shooting this film. There are sequences where Fletcher is driving Andrew to perfect his drumming. In these sequences Teller is committed to making the audience feel Andrew's exhaustion. Credit also goes
to Teller’s stunt man and drumming instructor for performing some of the drumming.
While the film is very much about the two central
performances, Chazelle’s direction and Tom Cross’ editing are also stellar. The
climatic musical performance is cut to perfection and Chazelle makes us feel
the sweat and drive of performance. Sharone Meir’s cinematography places the
film in between reality and some kind of nightmare. And even though we don’t
see much of the city in this film there’s something very “New York” about that
brown and shadowy music room. It instantly reminds us of those images and sounds
of the jazz greats. And those great artists populate the soundtrack as well.
There are some issues with the film however. Andrew’s
relationship with Nicole it didn’t develop enough before Andrew breaks
it off. I like Benoist’s natural and sweet performance but I wonder if the film
needed the subplot at all. There are also moments when Fletcher comes across as
too one-note of a character. Even a scene where Fletcher mourns over a former student- in
retrospect after a certain plot point- feels like just another way for Fletcher
to manipulate his students. But maybe the film is stronger because
Fletcher is such an absolute and unrelenting character. I think that people will feel the
film takes Fletcher’s side and believes in his ideology. I can’t speak for
Chazelle- who also wrote the screenplay, based on his short film- and what he believes. I do think that Andrew eventually sides with
Fletcher’s philosophy, even though he questions it. I like that the film is
bold enough not to say “It’s okay. We don’t agree with what this guy believes.” It ends on a
darker note, a perverted take on the inspirational final music performance we
would see in another film.
Despite certain issues Whiplash
is an expertly orchestrated film. Like a great musical performance it knows
how to build and slow down. It completely washed over me. Whatever you
think of Fletcher’s ideology- and whether the film agrees with him- the film
itself achieves a kind of transcendence that we rarely see in movies
these days.
