Bleeding Passion

Rating: 10/10 (19 October 2014)

People may quickly picture Whiplash as the Full Metal Jacket of jazz band: there's Fletcher militarily pushing his student, Andrew, to get his task right. The hatred towards the mentor becomes the character's motivation of achieving his orders perfectly; and the similarities could end there. Although this is a very different context; the harsh, shout-y discipline and sometimes its negative human effects are quite reminiscent. But without any grim twists, this movie just sticks directly to one's determination of being successful to his job, either for the instructor or for himself. This is one rough environment that takes you to a relentless study of intense rehearsals and intense discipline until it reaches to the point where their goals lose out of control. And just like those sequences, Whiplash keeps most of the viewers from their comfort zone, and leads them to rewarding results.
Movies like this, specifically relationship between a student and a mean teacher, conventionally ends with a heart changing sentiment, possibly leading the two to an unexpected life-long friendship, but Whiplash takes it stone-cold; hardly showing any sign of friendliness in their bond. The only way for the young drummer to gain his own light is to roll with the punches and learn exactly what the band want him to do, even if it costs much of what he has in life. This is supposed to be an image of inspiration, but the film mostly portrays the nightmares of this "never give up" ambition; which transforms the dreamer into a mad man who is few steps away of breaking down. Nonetheless, this unending pressure brings real impact to what lesson this movie is trying to show.
The filmmaking is spectacular all in all, each of its musical scenes makes for a truly grandeur show, but the core here are the ones that is mainly about the drums. They are impressively played with relentless intensity, while the camera strikingly displays the flowing literal sweat and blood of the drummer; indicating his committed exhaustion. The performances are the spotlight, especially J.K. Simmons who has done perfect to his character. It might have been easy for an overacted performance, but Simmons finds the sense of humanity beneath what it's written, making Fletcher reasonable to furiously shout at any intolerable flaw of his students. Miles Teller also killed it, recognizably for the drumming parts, but aside of that, he convincingly follows through the character's obsession, until he turns closer to insanity.
Whiplash often feels cruel, but there is an important reason for that. It depicts a serious way of motivation, you can feel that in every beat of his terrifyingly breathtaking drum performances; this is mostly the reality of being unstoppable to what you are desperately aiming for, plus driven by fear and hate. But eventually, the film makes a clear point why their world of music have to be this bitter. Overall, it all works by choosing clever directions, staging magnificent musical set pieces, and remarkable acting from its two leads. Even if the story is quite simple, its heart tends to overwhelm you.