the relationship between a sensitive music student who is driven to succeed and his teacher

Rating: 9/10 (27 February 2015)

This movie is a double character study that centers on the relationship between a sensitive, self doubting and introverted music student who is driven to succeed by a family that does not register music as any form of success. And by his teacher, who is driven to find the next world class jazz musician without any care of the cost to his students. "Andrew", the student, a young man who feels he is putting all he has into his drumming already and "Fletcher",the teacher, who demands ever more and believes that suffering is the only way to become a world class jazz musician feels his job is to obtain the impossible from his students. The student is willing to give up everything he has to become worthy in the eyes of this teacher, even dropping his girlfriend so that he can devote more effort to his playing. The teacher on the other hand does not ever believe that anyone is giving enough, to the point of regaling the students under him with public character ridicule and personal insults. And the teacher is willing to do anything to achieve what he feels is THE goal of finding that next world class jazz musician, even to the point of driving one former student to suicide. The current student and target is drummer Andrew, who takes the insults personally and drives himself harder and harder to achieve some kind of favor in the eyes of his teacher, who never gives it. Finally the student cracks under the pressure and has to leave the conservatory.
After being convinced by the other dead student's family and his own father to relate the improper teaching techniques used by the teacher Andrew withdraws from college and begins a mundane life. Then that next summer Andrew sees the teacher playing in a small time venue at a jazz bar and stops to watch him play. The teacher approaches him and tells him that some other student told the conservatory stories about his methods and how he was "released" from his position. Then he tells the student about his philosophy on jazz musicians and pain & suffering and that he was only trying to find the next great one and that was why his methods were so harsh. He told the young man he was only trying to drive his students to push beyond what they thought they could do. As they are going to part the teacher invites him to play with his new band at some competition. The student does a lot of thinking and then agrees to play in the band at this competition. Only when he steps up to the drums and thinks he is going to be happy the teacher steps up and tells the student he knows it was him that informed the conservatory about his methods. Then the student is surprised when the teacher tells the large audience that they will be playing a piece that he has not been given any music for. With no music to play from the student has to "wing it" as the teacher gives him a vindictive look and the student realizes he has been set up to fail in public. The student turns the tables on the teacher after the first piece and after the teacher delivers a gloating message "I guess you don't have it", referring to his talent.
The student "takes over" the band by starting before the teacher can do so and gets the band to play with him rather than look bad. The teacher isn't happy but has no choice but to go along or look foolish to the crowd. Only the student is so good he is the one looking great, not the teacher. During the student's continuing subversion of the band the teacher basically has to go along with it until the student steps up and begins playing in a way that even the teacher finds great. Great enough that the teacher begins going along with it and takes his lead from the student. Then at some point the student realizes the teacher has finally started to see what talent he has and he slowly begins taking cues from the teacher until his elongated solo ends. Then there is a dead silence and you are left waiting to see if the teacher now accepts the talent of the student. The teacher, with only a look passes that communication across and the student smiles, knowing he has finally been found worthy by his teacher/mentor and the teacher then slashes the hand signal to the rest of the band and they deliver a rousing end to the piece. With that the movie ends and we are gifted with more great jazz music as the credits roll. Now I know I have not done the movie the credit it deserves because I only spoke on one level and the movie delivers on several. All I can say is that normally I wouldn't like a movie like this but this movie, THIS MOVIE I think was GREAT. If you enjoy music or if you enjoy the fire, the electric struggle between a rising student and a waning teacher and the convoluted symbiotic relationship between them then you should also like this movie. I watched that ending about 10 times. I really loved this movie because as a young teen I was very fortunate to have had a teacher/mentor similar to this character. I still think of him as a pure bastard at times, but oh what he drove me to achieve!
Note: I had made this much more detailed and inclusive but IMDb made me pare it down to under 1000 words (Word commies)