brilliant

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2014)

I never thought a film could capture me in such an emotional grasp more than Gravity did. I always tell myself that a film is great when it indulges me so much that I stop critiquing it in my head while watching. As a film student I often have the problem of always spotting the mistakes and focusing on camera angles and character development. But with Whiplash, I couldn't stay off the edge of my seat. I was enthralled by this film. Of course in the first few minutes of it I immediately started criticizing and tried to spot mistakes. Of course a few continuity here and there, but I was first blown away by the tiny details of character development. Little things like how Nicole's straw was chewed and bent compared to Andrew's on their first date. Another brilliant thing was the editing and the choice of shots. Bravo to the DP....the many many cuts to closeups of instruments and people's faces and specific objects. It was a new style of editing that I really enjoyed and was quite genius given that all of those random close-up shots were what the main character was focusing on. The first I noticed was at the very beginning when Andrew went to the concessions and we see your typical medium shot, wide shot, medium shot of his conversation with Nicole, but then we go to a closeup of her face, looking at him. That was very specific and it was what Andrew was focusing on, and later dwells on (leading to him asking her out). And also with the various closeups on all the instruments that he was performing with. The closeups they showed were what he was paying attention to specifically while drumming. I just really enjoyed the style of editing and the shot choices. Like I said, many things about this film was brilliant. Great film and deserves all of its wins and more. Bravo cast and crew!