A Whiplash

Rating: 10/10 (18 January 2015)

The best chemistry between two leading actors within years...
I have been waiting to see this movie for such a long time and for that reason I am really sorry that I couldn't enlist it in my Top 10 films of last year. But now that I have enjoyed it I am pretty sure that it is in my Top 3, maybe just behind Birdman.
Why? Because of the perfect acting lessons displayed in it. Best supporting actor of the year no doubt. J.K. Simmons destroys Miles Teller's character and then builds him depending on Teller's inner talent to produce perfect music. I am really starting to think that most of all I enjoy the overall feel of a movie and then the actors' play. These two factors maybe are the two most interesting and inspiring aspects of a movie for me. And the music of course. Jazz is improvisation, polyrhythm and swing which we have a lot in this wonderful piece of movie history. I have no doubt that "Whiplash", "Grand Hotel Budapest" and "Birdman" will without a doubt find their dignified places in the history of cinema.
The intense play is inspired by the beautiful script showing human emotions as we rarely find them in movies. This brilliant acting lesson is a true revelation for both leading actors and the director Damien Chazelle. It is no wonder that the American critics love it so much. It advocates the true statement that no talent can emerge without tons of hard work and practice. But the more compelling storyline is the one which shows us how the character of a person can grow when confronted by a real catalyst - the mentor, the teacher, the challenger. This is what I really liked in this film - the human emotional development within a talented young person. And Miles Teller is such a young talented actor too. So the symbol is perfect.
For us Europeans it is really refreshing to see this psychological clash between the two main characters in this movie. All the more challenging is the setting - the stage seems like a gladiators' arena. It is by the end of the movie like a true battlefield! The hero of the story is challenged by this "villain" - his mentor. And he strives so hard, beyond the flesh and bone, to reach perfection, that he surpasses perfection by the end of this beautifully shot film piece.
And the music in this movie is performed so well that it accompanies the characters' journey through this immense psychological arena of "war". The interaction in some scenes is so intense that it is simmering with uncompromising sharpness. We are viewing not only the main character's growth, we are seeing our appreciation of hard work grow too. And in a country like Bulgaria this kind of a lesson (although lifelike obvious) should be much appreciated.
"Whiplash"professes the things that matter to us and more importantly - how we can achieve them. It is the uncompromising will of our own souls which can only bring us to success and peacefulness. Perfection is not a mirage, it is a state of mind, a focus so clear, that one can achieve only by working hard on his talents. Every day, every second and every way possible. Even beyond the possible...