{"id":13364,"date":"2017-02-01T09:01:06","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T17:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=13364"},"modified":"2017-02-01T11:29:50","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T19:29:50","slug":"to-see-or-not-to-see-whiplash-proves-that-dreams-are-worthwhile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2017\/02\/01\/to-see-or-not-to-see-whiplash-proves-that-dreams-are-worthwhile\/","title":{"rendered":"To See or Not to See<\/em>: Whiplash<\/em> proves that dreams are worthwhile"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Whiplash<\/i><\/p>\n

4.5\/5<\/p>\n

Whiplash<\/i> (2014) is one of the finest pieces of independent filmmaking\u2014and therefore filmmaking as a whole\u2014in recent history. It\u2019s alive, but it\u2019s not desperate to be; it\u2019s funny, but only because life is funny sometimes; it features young characters that aren\u2019t limp or over-inflated with self-awareness.<\/p>\n

Most of all, though, Whiplash<\/i> captures what it\u2019s like to be young and to have passion, and what it\u2019s like to sacrifice yourself to something you deem greater than ordinary life. And yet, the film is unusually in touch with ordinary life, despite the fact that its hero, Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller, much more comfortable here as an aspiring Buddy Rich than as an aspiring arms dealer [War Dogs<\/i>, 2016], or\u2026 whatever he was doing in the Divergent<\/i> series), is so determined to leave it behind.<\/p>\n

There are numerous quiet, intimate moments that not only act as a counter-weight to the frantic, adrenaline-fuelled drumming scenes, but also give Whiplash<\/i> the emotional credibility to endure the harsh and wearing nature of life on those with dreams.<\/p>\n

That harsh nature comes primarily in the form of the one and only J.K. Simmons, formidable here in the role of abusive-but-maybe-not band conductor Terence Fletcher, who lives with the conviction that \u201cthere are no two words in the English language more harmful than \u2018good job.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But what sets Whiplash<\/i> apart is its unfaltering vision, parallel with Neiman\u2019s own, of doing something great. This is a film that would be just as unsatisfied with a mock ending as Neiman would be with being merely a good drummer\u2014and it\u2019s this duality that makes the film so believable and so truthful.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more is that it\u2019s Whiplash<\/i>\u2019s truthfulness that makes the film so interesting: is it okay to throw a chair at a student\u2019s head in order to push them to greatness? Is it possible to be a \u2018great\u2019? Would it be worth it if you could be?<\/p>\n

Chazelle never gives us straightforward answers to questions like these, and the film is better for it; we as the audience can, and must, decide.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this freedom that gives Whiplash<\/i> its intelligence; it knows better than to make a singular statement on a subject with so many sides. Instead, it gives us the pieces and lets the audience build a conclusion specific to them, with morals that they believe in.<\/p>\n

Chazelle\u2019s latest project, La La Land<\/i> (2016), is also about people with dreams, but its characters seem satisfied to revel in them rather than act on them. Whiplash<\/i>\u2019s Neiman never pauses to revel in his lofty dreams because his dreams are too uncomfortable, a constant itch that is only soothed by success.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s rare for a film to address a character\u2019s desire for greatness and not conclude that the character was great all along or that there is a suitable substitute\u2014love, family, money\u2014for greatness.<\/p>\n

Films cop out with one of these two endings because they don\u2019t have any more spine than their characters. It\u2019s hard to look \u201cgreatness\u201d in the eye; it\u2019s hard to think that maybe, sometimes, you\u2019re just not good enough; it\u2019s hard, in a world of 7,000,000,000, to be an individual yourself.<\/p>\n

Whiplash<\/i> stands as a testament to greatness, proving that although it\u2019s hard, settling for less is even harder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whiplash 4.5\/5 Whiplash (2014) is one of the finest pieces of independent filmmaking\u2014and therefore filmmaking as a whole\u2014in recent history. It\u2019s alive, but it\u2019s not desperate to be; it\u2019s funny, but only because life is funny sometimes; it features young characters that aren\u2019t limp or over-inflated with self-awareness. Most of all, though, Whiplash captures what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,181],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-february-1-2017"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13364"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13366,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13364\/revisions\/13366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}