An independent masterpiece that will make you feel assaulted

Rating: 9/10 (20 February 2015)

"Whiplash", an independent film shot in 19 days, was one of the genuine pleasures of 2014 in film, telling the story of a promising young jazz drummer named Andrew at a prestigious music conservatory in New York being driven to manic ambition by a sadistic conductor/instructor named Terrence Fletcher. But it's so much more than a Faustian morality drama in functioning as a metaphor for the choice of reaching for the highest fame and success or being happy with the simple joys of life.
It stars J.K. Simmons who reminds me of the great George C. Scott in that his performance here as a sadistic college band instructor is almost as intense in displaying unleashed machismo as Scott did playing General Patton. At this writing, the 2015 Oscars haven't been given out yet, but Simmons couldn't lose the Oscar if he dropped his pants on Hollywood Boulevard.
Writer/director Damien Chazelle drew from his own experiences in High School (hopefully exaggerated!) to make a film that virtually assaults the viewer as if he were a punching bag continuously being pummeled by an enraged boxer. After an almost unbearable nine-minute drumming climax, the viewer will probably stagger out into the street, then spend days getting over the experience. By pushing the envelope almost to the unendurable, Chazelle has carved a cinematic masterpiece.