Whiplash

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.