#30 Whiplash

In Summary

What is the line between 'tough love' and outright bullying?

How much are you willing to sacrifice to master a passion?

Whiplash is an exploration of the extremes in the dynamic between student and teacher.

Set in a prestigious music school, Whiplash tells the story of how the young jazz drummer, Andrew Neiman, comes to join the band led by the vaunted Terence Fletcher. Desperate for his teacher's approval, Neiman soon finds himself constantly singled out for criticism and having to go to great lengths to prove himself again and again.

If there is one line to remember this film by, it is Fletcher's constant refrain of 'not quite my tempo'. Calmly delivered, it encapsulates the frustration of Neiman to satisfy his teacher. So close, but 'not quite' there, if he only tries that bit harder he might get there. 'My tempo' not an explicit number that Neiman can refer to, just the concept of the temp that the teacher has in mind.

Throughout the film, the audience, and protagonist, questions whether the grotesque treatment of Neiman by his teacher is worth it. Fletcher's status as a teacher who has led others to success justifies his abusive behaviour. If such abuse is the price of success, is success really worth it?

Just when it seems as if Fletcher has pushed Neiman too far - forcing him to perform after a car accident - the two meet again after the former's removal from his teaching position and the latter's retirement from music, the film takes a further, climactic, step into the duo's dynamic.

Joining Fletcher's new band, Neiman is unexpectedly forced into performing a song for which he hasn't prepared. What proceeds is a breathless confrontation played out entirely through a drum-kit.

Neiman's extended solo is both an act of defiance and one final desperate attempt to seek approval. We can initially see Fletcher put out by Neiman's temerity, but we gradually see him gain his teacher's respect. As the solo continues, with seemingly no end in sight, it is apparent at what great pain Neiman is putting himself through to finally best his teacher.

It is left up to the audience to assess whether the victory was really worth all that physical and psychological torture.

A Memorable Quote

There are no two words in the English language more harmful than "good job".

Things You May Not Know

• It took just 19 days to shoot this film.
• Director, Damien Chazelle, wouldn't yell 'cut' during the scenes where Andrew Neiman is playing the drums, so that actor, Miles Teller, would keep going until he tired himself out.
• Whiplash was originally a short film that Damien Chazelle created in order to get funding for a feature-length version.

One of the Greatest of All Time?
Whiplash is an absolutely gripping spectacle played out between the two lead actors, Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons. For all the fire and brimstone of Simmons' Terence Fletcher, it is the existence of all the nuance possible in that relationship between him and Neiman that makes this film so compelling. We can feel ourselves simultaneously wanting to tell Neiman to get away but also wishing for him to succeed

Whiplash tells a story on a relatively small scale, that builds up into something incredibly visceral as it reaches its breathless climax.