Whiplash (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Damien Chazelle
	Actors: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons
	Country: USA
	Genre: Music
	Conditions of visioning: 02.02.2015, Schauburg, OV sneak preview
Synopsis: A promising young drummer Andrew (Teller) enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor Fletcher (Simmons) who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.
Review: The story is good. It dramatizes the will of grandeur and the talent of noth teacher and drummer via their apparent conflict. I watched the movie with a mucisian friend and asked afterwards others and it seems that this story is not realistic at all, for many reasons. Unlike many big names of jazz, Armstrong, Davis, who grew their music in the streets, this jazz community is in a conservatory. The atmosphere in a conservatory is not of a never-ending competition, at least not in Germany nor in Italy but might be so in France. The music is amazing, full of energy. Some parts are mixed so that the drums are louder than it should be. This gives the focus on Andrew and moreover a lot fo energy to the movie. This energy alternates with the energy given by Simmons when he complains and gives a high tempo to the movie. The last scene is an apotheosis of the conflict both emotionally and musically.
Rating: 6 /10