On Oct. 15, 2014, Damien Chazelle released “Whiplash,” starring Miles Teller and J.K Simmons. For its tenth anniversary, the film is having a limited re-release in theaters nationwide.
“Whiplash” leads with Miles Teller as the protagonist Andrew Newman, a college-aged drummer eager to prove himself. When he starts his academic career attending the prestigious Shaffer Music Conservatory, everything seems to be on the up. From there, he is discovered by the antagonist, the jazz band director Terence Fletcher, who is portrayed by J.K. Simmons. Fletcher gives Newman a shot at joining his studio, finally giving him the chance to prove himself — though not everything is as it seems.
When Newman joins Fletcher’s studio he soon discovers that Fletcher is more than a perfectionist. From the very first studio session Newman has in Fletcher’s band, he is subject to abuse, torment and mental anguish from his director. The viewer can absolutely feel the tension in every scene, a feeling of unease and stress emanates from the screen whenever Newman and Fletcher interact.
Part of what makes this so excellent is what is in the subtext. The most famous scene from “Whiplash” depicts Fletcher screaming at Newman, asking him if he was “rushing or dragging?” That means Newman’s tempo is either too slow or too fast for the time signature of what they are performing. Fletcher pushes Newman to the brink of tears, throwing pieces of the drum kit across the room as well as slapping him and verbally degrading him. But what many miss is that Newman was on time, and while he may have originally been confident in this, Fletcher made him doubt himself. This pushes Newman to work harder, needing to keep his spot in Fletcher’s band.
Over the rest of the film, Newman pushes himself to the absolute limit, sacrificing his personal relationships alongside his physical and mental wellbeing. He has to be great, and all these attachments he has will not allow him to be great. Everything crashes down when Fletcher’s band at Shaffer Conservatory has a big performance, Newman forgets his drumsticks and has to rush out to grab them before they perform. With his adrenaline pumping, driving as fast as he could to get back to the performance he crashes his car. Leaving the wreckage, fleeing the scene he rushes to the performance. Newman tries his hardest to perform, but ultimately fails; Fletcher then tells Newman he is done. This spirals resulting in a fight, Newman dropping out of Shaffer Conservatory and ultimately Newman becoming a whistleblower — resulting in Fletcher being fired from Shaffer.
The movie’s ending is perfectly crafted. This entire film Newman has been groomed and molded by Fletcher to be the perfect drummer, and it all culminates here. Newman is invited by Fletcher to be in a jazz festival he is a part of. Though, when the performance begins Newman discovers he was sabotaged by Fletcher, purposely being given the wrong music sheets, leaving him in the dark, unable to play. Newman fails at first, but then overcomes leading the band into a performance of the title track, “Whiplash.” The scene is so intricate and brings everything together, resulting in both an ultimate low and ultimate high point for the two leads. Newman is finally great, and Fletcher has finally groomed a student to be great by his standards.
“Whiplash” is a phenomenal movie. If given the chance to see this movie in theaters one should jump at the opportunity. For such a simple concept the film is deeply intricate and builds so much in its short one-hour and 47-minute runtime. For those near UTSA, “Whiplash,” is currently playing at theaters such as the Santikos Palladium until Sept. 27.
