THE BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS OF WHIPLASH

WHIPLASH directed by Damien Chazelle (USA, 2014)

“I wanna hear Caravan with a drum solo”  is a line, in the form of an aside, on The Mothers Of Invention’s’You’re Probably Wondering Why We’re Here’.

Frank Zappa’s wish is granted in spades for the finale of Whiplash although I doubt he ever envisaged it would look or sound anything like this.

The on-screen performance of this Jazz standard, made famous by Duke Ellington, is dominated by an extended solo by ambitious student Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) who is determined to prove a point to his demanding music instructor Terence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons).

The solo seems to go on forever and we don’t get to see or hear the audience reaction; it wouldn’t surprise me if they had already gone home and left him to it!

The playing is so manic that it brings to mind the depiction of pianist David Heffcott’s mental breakdown during Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Concerto in the movie Shine. The obsessive, and bloody, practice sessions leading up to this climax are otherwise reminiscent of boxing movies like Raging Bull or Rocky.