Today it’s not about secret agents or boxers, nor about earth-shattering events or politicians who were to change the course of history. Today we’re talking very carefully about jazz. Or maybe… completely unkempt. Blood-soaked. And nerve-racking.
There’s a reason Damien Chazelle was able to blow both audiences and critics’ socks off with his feature debut Whiplash. Because what appears to be a classic drama between a jazz conductor and his student on the drums quickly mutates into one absolute rollercoaster ride.
In Whiplash, a student has to prove himself under a sadistic teacher
Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) only wants one thing in life: to become a renowned jazz drummer. To do this, he plays his fingers sore, practices day and night and puts his private life aside. When he joined the jazz band highly acclaimed teacher and conductor Terence Fletcher (JK Simmons) is recorded, Andrew’s dream seems to be within reach.
As it quickly becomes clear, Fletcher is no ordinary music teacher. He is demanding. More than demanding. He expects performance at the very highest level, and in order to do so he bullies his students verbally and even physically using methods that border on abuse. For him, there is nothing more destructive than praise.
But Fletcher underestimated Andrew. The young drummer can easily compete with him in terms of stubbornness and determination. This is how one begins Clash of personalitieswhich must end in either brilliant triumph or utter destruction.
The thriller on Amazon Prime offers 105 minutes of pure stress
Whiplash is a film from which every person with even the slightest bit of empathy and love for cinema will emerge drenched in sweat. A film that provokes you as much as the teacher provokes the student until you want to bite something and scream at the screen. As strenuous as it is, the effect is just as rewarding and intoxicating.
Verbal battles are fought here. Deliver yourself two egos at the mercy of each other the fight of the century. Both the constantly trying characters and their actors go all out and stop at nothing. Jazz has probably never been so raw.
Like a high-speed train without brakes, we are racing towards a finale that is truly something special. The breath stops or is stopped completely. And when the full triumph of the climax breaks over us, it drags us away – whether that is something good or terrible is something everyone has to decide for themselves in the end.
Whiplash rips you on Amazon Prime into a maelstrom of music, power and fighting spirit.
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