Review of Whiplash (2014) by Ahnehnois — 29 Dec 2014

It's quite an intense movie. I played and performed jazz for a decade or so, but certainly not at this level. The music and the performers are quite credible; I had expected to learn later that Miles Teller knew nothing about drums and was just a really good faker as in most music films, but it turns out he is a drummer and did take intense training for this movie, and that authenticity strengthens the film.

The point of the movie though, is asking whether a high-stress teaching approach is a good thing or a bad thing. The director's behavior gets intense, and I do struggle to imagine that someone could get away with the things he does in the twenty-first century. It is, however, a provocative issue nonetheless. The way I read into the film, it's up to you to decide the answer to its thesis question: is this aggression and confrontation and abuse necessary to achieve at the highest level, or is it unnecessary? What's not in question is the pain, the question is whether it's worth it.

The trailers present the film as a twist on the schmaltzy teacher and student films we've been cursed with. If you're waiting for the other shoe to drop, if you're waiting for this film to abandon its central question and go back to the safe, boring narrative of an omniscient unflappable teacher and a student who just needs to get over himself and put his personal issues aside and then becomes instantly perfect, this movie never reverts back to that. I'd say that's a good thing.