TL;DR : Beautiful simple film about a teacher
and student. 7/10
I had put this off for weeks, but this had to
be done. The movie I will review in this post, as the title suggests, is
‘Whiplash’. This phenomenal film of 2014, which is directed and written by
Damien Chazelle, stars Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons. Damien Chazelle
approached his idea with a minimalistic and clear style, hence conveying the
main idea of the film without any ambiguity. Personally, I prefer to watch
films with convoluted plots, but this film changed my perception of simplistic
films. The movie illustrates the
relationship between a dedicated student, Andrew (Miles Teller), and an abusive
teacher, Fletcher (JK Simmons), in such a relatable manner that motivates the
audience to strive and push their limits in any task they are driven to and
excel in. Aside from beautifully portraying the teacher-student relationship,
the movie develops around the life of the protagonist, by exhibiting the
interactions he has with his siblings. Often compared with his siblings,
Andrew’s efforts and achievements are undervalued by his relatives.
Furthermore, the movie also displays his failed relationship with Nicole, his
ladylove, due to his drive for achieving recognition from his teacher. This
thus highlights his struggle to balance his professional, social, and family
life. The following review will evaluate the thematic content and formal
techniques used to enhance the experience of the brilliant film.
Whiplash deals with universal themes that
relate to most individuals, such as, ‘Seeking Perfection’, ‘Living for
recognition,’ ‘Proving your abilities to yourself’ and ‘Perseverance’. As these
ideas are witnessed by the main target audience of the film, viewers are able
to appreciate the core plot of the picture. At some point in our lives, we have
or will try to perfect our abilities beyond our caliber, or at least hope to.
This film highlights how much the protagonist persevered despite the familial pressures
and extreme criticisms he faced. Seeing the fruit of his efforts, the audience
is left feeling the same drive to excel in their individual abilities. Aside
from the main themes, the subplots of the films also exhibit themes of ‘failed
relationships’ and ‘Achievement comparison’, which also is equally relatable by
all. The main message the movie aimed to convey is comparable to a metaphor: A
diamond emerges from immense pressure applied to carbon. With less
complexities, this movie successfully conveyed the message clearly.
As the film was quite straightforward in terms
of plot, not many formal techniques were utilized. Nevertheless, any formal
techniques used were executed with justice. The techniques implemented in this
movie include: point of view, character development, colors (lighting), sounds,
cinematography and dialogue. The film was presented in a biased third person
perspective mainly focusing on Andrew’s life. This is seen as the film depicts
different aspects of his life more than any other character throughout the movie.
This helps us empathize with the emotions felt by the central character. Character Development of the main 2 characters
were phenomenally displayed. At no point in the movie did I feel unsure about
any character. Generally, when a character has to be developed in film or
literature, there is a template list of aspects one has to cover to provide a
holistic view of the character. This includes, familial relationship, social
relationship, the nature of the character alone, and his interaction with the
antagonist. Also, a vital part of the character development is contributed by
the performance of the casted actors. The film succeeded in judiciously
treating every aspect of the protagonist as well as the emphatic performance of
Miles Teller. In terms of developing the antagonist, the film gave us just
enough to know the nature of Fletcher by displaying examples of how he treats
his students in several instances of the film. Aside from which, we realize how
the character unfolds in the climax when Fletcher addresses why he treats his
students the way he does, thus gathering the audience’s sympathy towards him.
Judging the performance of J K Simmons, perfection couldn’t be described in any
other way. Moving over to the lighting aspect of the film, I felt throughout
the movie, common greyish tones were used to depict the mundane life of Andrew
and reddish tones when Fletcher abuses his students. There wasn’t much vibrancy
in terms of lighting and colors, which added to the development of the
character and the emotions in each scene. Moreover, considering the film
revolved around Jazz music, the soundtrack of the film suited the movie well.
There isn’t much to say about how the sounds were used. In terms of
Cinematography, the film angles were accurately directed to guide the audience
through Andrew’s point of view, and a third person view of his surroundings. Lastly,
the dialogue used in the film was quite powerful and involved a lot of cusses.
While many people agree that such language was unnecessary, I differ from their
beliefs. I believe that the dialogues involving such language added power and
displayed raw emotions of each actor. Furthermore, it helped in building around
Fletcher’s character development.
In a nutshell, Whiplash was a beautiful simple
film, which I’d definitely recommend to others. Worth a watch. The movie really moves you with emotions and
motivation by utilizing subtle techniques. The story was told fascinatingly and
clearly. The actors performed quite well and adhered to their character
profiles excellently. Since there wasn’t much sub plots or complexities in the
main plot, the film felt quite short but satisfying. On a scale of 10, I’d give
it a high 7.
