Oscar special: Outstanding acting and direction make Whiplash a masterpiece

Until Whiplash, no one really knew of JK Simmons. Show people his picture and some might have remembered Simmons from the Spider-Man franchise or from Juno. Others will recall having seen Simmons playing bit parts in a cluster of television shows over the years. After Whiplash, though, Simmons’ unblinking stare, his deeply-lined face and drill-sergeant voice will haunt you. Set in a fictitious music school that seems to be the equivalent of New York’s Juilliard School, Whiplash is about a 19-year-old drummer and the foul-mouthed monolith that is his teacher. Andrew (Miles Teller) has got admission into Shaffer Conservatory, the best school of music in the country. He’s trying to find his feet there when he’s noticed by one of Shaffer’s most respected teachers, Terence Fletcher (Simmons). Fletcher picks a select set of students for what is known as his studio band. They perform in competitions with Fletcher as their conductor. Fletcher has a gleaming record of wins to his name and a reputation for spotting talent, which is why Andrew is thrilled to be Fletcher’s latest chosen one. [caption id=“attachment_2108949” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Courtesy: Facebook[/caption] There’s a lingering belief, particularly in the world of classical arts, that a teacher has to be difficult and push the disciple both physically and emotionally in order to nurture greatness. The punishing regimes of classical musicians and dancers as well as the way they’re often manipulated by their teachers — gurus in the Indian tradition; teachers and mentors in the West — are the stuff of legends. Stories of how musicians have practiced till their fingers bled are heard all over the world. In Whiplash, director and writer Damian Chazelle brings that madness and passion into the world of jazz music. It begins with Fletcher throwing a chair at Andrew because the boy wasn’t keeping perfect time and quickly, the tempo picks up. Fletcher’s demands from Andrew (and other musicians) are unreal and cruel. It’s impossible to meet Fletcher’s standards and yet Andrew is determined to beat Fletcher at this game. Andrew wants to be a great and if it means practicing till his drum kit is blood-spattered, so be it. Wrapping his fingers in band aids, plunging his bruised hand in jugs of ice water, Andrew plays on. Not that this is enough for Fletcher. There are moments in Whiplash when you’ll find yourself unable to breathe, when your entire body will clench with empathetic pain — all because a boy is at his drumming class and his teacher asked him a question. Pulsing to the frenetic beat of the jazz music that Andrew is learning and mastering, Whiplash is one of the most intense films you’ll see. Every one of its five nominations (Best Film, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing) is richly deserved. We can only wonder what Chazelle — whose own experiences as a music student inspired Whiplash — did to bring out the performances that Simmons and Teller deliver. Simmons’s performance as Fletcher has won him numerous awards already and it would be surprising if he didn’t add the Oscar to his haul. He’s outstanding as the manic, cruel teacher who will go to frightening lengths not just for the music, but also for his own ego. Yet if Fletcher seems vaguely psychopathic in his ways, Andrew isn’t really much healthier. Teller is superb as the young boy who seems easygoing and sweet, but changes the moment he encounters Fletcher. Andrew cares about anything but realising the genius that he wants Fletcher to see in his drumming. The madness of the teacher infects the student, and Andrew doesn’t put up much of a resistance. What makes Fletcher so tantalising as a character is that he’s difficult to pin down. Understanding Andrew, even when he’s pushing past horrifying pain to keep drumming, is simple: he’s a teenager, he’s talented, he wants to be the best and will do whatever it takes to achieve that greatness. Fletcher, on the other hand, is intensely complicated. It’s not just ego that’s powering him. He’s convinced that the only way to tap into genius is by severely rattling the person, and not even death deters Fletcher. Simmons’s intensity as Fletcher is chilling, matched as it is by Teller’s sensitive portrayal of Andrew’s willingness to self-destruct. But just when you think that Fletcher is evil and destroying Andrew, you see how he lights up when the music is perfect, when the talent he glimpsed in a student puts on a spectacular, awe-inspiring performance. As the applause thunders in from the audience at the end of the show, you have to wonder whether it would have happened without the whiplashes Fletcher inflicted upon Andrew.