Director: Damien Chazelle
A work of
art is a personal matter to the artist.
To the rest of us, it’s subjective.
We get to decide how we feel about it.
We either connect with something in it or we don’t. Our opinions are influenced by our own personal
baggage. Often, the best artwork comes
from the artist fearlessly digging into his or her experiences and
therapeutically exorcising the demons. That’s
the way Whiplash felt to me. So, after
watching the movie, I wasn’t surprised to find that the writer/director, first
timer Damien Chazelle, was once an up and coming jazz drummer. Much like the character Miles Teller plays in
the film. If the story in the film is
any indication, it must have been one tough experience.
Every so
often, you see a movie that’s so immediate and confident in the storytelling
that you just know it has to be influenced heavily by past experiences. Whiplash is that kind of movie. The whole thing feels and looks so cool. Like the big band jazz music the characters
are in love with, it’s precisely timed and often shockingly kicks into high
emotional gear, then brings it back, then kicks in again. The story is about drive, ambition, passion,
love, anger, fear, containment of fear, teacher, student, pain, and lines of
tolerance. How far is too far to push
someone? What does it take to transcend from
being great at something to being “one of the greats” at something. How close can dedication come to
insanity. Where are the lines? All this in a little movie about a young man
who has thoughts of becoming a great jazz drummer and meets the teacher who
might either help him transcend or destroy his drive and opportunity
entirely.
To Miles
Teller, J. K. Simmons, Damien Chazelle, and the entire cast and crew of the
film, I have only two words for you…Good Job!
(See the
movie and you’ll understand that last part.)
