Whiplash (4/5 Stars)

Good Job

I could not be more impressed by a second feature and a first real budget (still low budget but still a budget) movie. The writer is Damien Chazelle. He is my age (OMFG) and his movie is absolutely killer. It is the sort of thing that registers a new cinematic presence in the neighborhood of greatness in your mind. I am excited for future movies from this kid. Let me explain: It is not too unusual for a very young person to give a great performance or write a very good screenplay or even to direct a good movie (take Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station” from last year). It’s unusual but not unheard of unusual. But the standout great thing about “Whiplash” is not any of these things. It is the editing. And Editing like Cinematography is a technical old-man-who-knows-how-to-work-machines job. Those other jobs can lean on the crutch of great inspiration or raw talent. Editing is a craft. Editing requires discipline and experience. And the editing that one experiences in “Whiplash” is so intricate, precise, and correct that to see a 28-year-old lead a team that does it is extraordinary. We need to give this Damien Chazelle some serious money and let him do whatever the fuck he wants next time around. The kid’s got rhythm.

“Whiplash” is a low budget movie. It has a protagonist (Jazz Drummer protégé played by Miles Teller) an antagonist (his sadistic/inspiring teacher played by J.K. Simmons) and two supporting characters: his easy going father and a girlfriend. The movie takes place in a series of rooms and concert halls and some country roads. The plot concerns the protagonist’s search for greatness in jazz drumming, his attempts to impress a teacher who is ideologically opposed to ever being impressed, and his ultimate confrontation and jazz drum battle with him. Now there is that on paper but on the screen you are watching what feels like an action blockbuster. This is pulled off by a focused screenplay, two great performances by Teller and Simmons and as I mentioned before extraordinary editing.

Jazz Drumming? Who gives a shit right? I knew nothing about it before seeing this movie (except of course for the Buddy Rich tapes). Well the presentation of a thing makes a world of difference. I am reminded of watching Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz” and being turned off by the philandering reckless play director until the movie proved through choreography that he was a genius. There’s nothing like great art to diminish the distasteful eccentricities of the artist. So it is in “Whiplash.”Miles Teller really wants to be one of the greatest jazz drummers ever like Buddy Rich or Charlie Parker. His teacher mercilessly abuses him (not unlike the drill instructor in “Full Metal Jacket.”) There is yelling, slapping, throwing chairs, and sadistic mind fucking going all around. Miles practices until his hands start bleeding. He blows off his father. He breaks up with his girlfriend in order to focus more on his music. Why would Miles Teller go through this? Well fuck it’s the music. It’s great. And it fills the scenes with gorgeous suspense and hideous beauty. And the camera direction and editing seamlessly intertwine the pieces into the overall experience. The movie makes it plausible that greatness in this medium is worth experiencing terrible shit.

By making it plausible the movie opens a real discussion of whether greatness is worth destroying yourself in general. Miles has two father figures. His dad, easy going and unconditional in his love, is not particularly great at anything and requires nothing from his son. Then there is his teacher who demands and demands and demands and demands and who articulates that the most harmful words in the human language are “Good Job.” Well, is J.K. Simmons a good teacher? I have an opinion on that. I do not necessarily believe that yelling, slapping, or throwing chairs is bad leadership. I do have a problem with the manipulation and the lying. At one point in the movie the teacher confronts a student who is on-pitch with the accusation that they are off-pitch. The teacher knows that the student is on pitch. He also must know that in his strict disciplitarian camp of a classroom that the student cannot talk back or correct the teacher. And yet his excuse for his behavior when the student is dismissed is “well, he wasn’t off pitch but should have known that he wasn’t and that is worse.” So what is the point of his behavior? It is a perfect Catch-22 for the student. They will either get excoriated for differing from the teacher or get excoriated for being off pitch. There is no point is the answer. It is stupid and the teacher is a coward to only yell louder when he is called out on it. So “Full Metal Jacket” guy: all good in my book. I like him. The teacher in this movie: not so much. One kind of yelling toughens up a pupil, the other fucks with their mind. And if the teacher is not there to mold the mind, if he insists like in this movie that the perfect pupil will ultimately disregard his teaching than what is the point of the teacher at all.

Or to put it another way: What is the point of teachers when it comes to Greatness. If it can’t be taught then perhaps the best teacher is but an intelligent obstacle.

Or did I just persuade myself the other way….