Ensign Lestat's Oscars Countdown, 31/01/2015
Whiplash
Nominations - Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (J.K. Simmons), Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing
Whiplash, it turns out, is a piece of jazz music. It's also likely to give you whiplash if you have to play it, and in the film, 'Whiplash', it's a reason for a lot of angst, blood and a fair amount of stress.
This film is intense. That's the first thought that comes into your mind before, during and after watching the film. We follow Andrew (Miles Teller) as he tries to make it up the ranks in tough music school Shaffer Conservatory. He aspires to become the greatest drummer of all time, and the opinion of school conductor Fletcher (J. K. Simmons) is paramount to him. When Fletcher accepts him into the Studio Band (THE band for potential success), Andrew think he's made it.
Of course, he hasn't. Training with Fletcher is a nightmare, as Andrew finds out on his first day. The man is a perfectionist, with a violent temper. He pushes his students to the edge. There's a terrible intense scene where he alternates three drummers all day till 2:00 am in his attempt to perfect their drumming.
He has them so wound up that Andrew takes some drastic steps during one particular competition. It's a climactic moment that is perhaps the only way the story could end.
Except, the story doesn't end there. There's an epilogue that drags on forever. This section is supposed to give us closure of some kind. It's a meeting of the minds, where Fletcher and Andrew meet each other on a playing field. Who wins, who loses? Or does it matter. The story suggests the latter.
There's nothing this film doesn't do right, but it doesn't (to me anyway) feel right, ever. As someone who dearly loves music, but has no musical talent beyond singing along (off-key) in the shower, this film captured much of the dedication and determination required to perfect the art of playing an instrument, any instrument. Teller has been playing the drums since his teens, and he's the one seen playing in the film as well. A film like this would not have looked credible had its star not been playing the drums. There's an authenticity that comes with the long, unedited takes of an actor performing that doesn't ever work when there's a stand-in. However, I've read that not all the notes hit in the film matched up to what we hear. As a layman, you can't guess, but it will detract from the quality of the film for the more musically inclined.
While Simmons is perfect in his ferocious intensity (yeah, that word again), he may just lose out to the far superior Edward Norton. He's certainly a far cry from J. Jonah Jamieson, a character with a similar philosophy, but a very different method of execution. But, you never know, the Academy are partial to veterans, so he may just walk off with the big prize. He doesn't put a foot wrong here. His feet are firmly planted on the pedal, he never eases. When he's on screen, you will physically tense up. If nothing else, here's the one time the trailer's have given you enough information to tense up even before a character has behaved in his specific way.
I'm not sure, but I think this film has got an adaptation nomination because it was re-adapted from its original short film version. That's my theory, because I don't see any other writing credits anywhere. And since the story is mainly based on how director Damien Chazelle went to a similar cut-throat school with an equally intimidating instructor, I fail to see how this makes it a worthy adaptation.
It's a surprise that the entire film was shot in less than a month (apparently). It doesn't feel rushed, in fact, there are several time-outs that give you an insight into Andrew. It doesn't drag or rush, except for the epilogue, which felt like too much of a contrived add-on. It didn't feel like a perfect ending. That would've come earlier, at the competition. There was a showdown waiting to happen, but it doesn't happen in the way that necessitated the end of the film.
The concept of the film is bizarre, not many of us can relate to it because, hell, most of us can hardly be determined enough to hit the gym, forget practice till our hands bleed. So far, of all the Best Picture nominees I've seen, this one feels least like one that will be memorable - not because it's not good, or that it doesn't capture, perfectly, the emotions of the characters, but because it just doesn't fit into our daily lives. We want to know neither Andrew nor Fletcher - they are unlikable, neither can create art, only reproduce it. Their vendetta is against each other, and everyone else is closed off from it. Simply put, I don't understand this nomination. It's imperative we watch it, but why?
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