Whiplash - Falling into psychosis

Written & directed by Damien Chazelle

Starring: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist

(Spoilers below)

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Before La La Land (2016) and First Man (2018), Academy Award-winning writer/director Damien Chazelle made his breakout film 'Whiplash' back in 2014. Originally a short film, Chazelle was able to craft a 107 minute thriller about a young drummer who is manipulated not only by his cut-throat instructor, but by his own goals that push him to the edge. In an interview with IndieWire, writer/director Damien Chazelle mentions that this story was heavily based on his own high school jazz club experiences, including having a strict instructor. From its initial release, critics and audiences raved over the fast-paced editing, outstanding performances, and execution of its air-tight script.

The film eventually went on to win 3 Academy Awards for Best Film Editing, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Sound Mixing. Although Whiplash is proven to be a technical marvel, I want to dissect the script and what Chazelle wanted to flesh out in the two main characters: Andrew and Fletcher. Andrew is a dedicated musician who is easily pushed around for half of the film, similar to how his father is. Fletcher initially hears Andrew play at the very beginning of the film, teasing him of the possibility he will be in Fletcher's band.

After his first brutal practice with studio band, Andrew questions if the band is worth playing with. However, his push for success repels him from quitting. Thus, creating the heated battle between Andrew and Fletcher.

Psychosis is defined as a "severe mental disorder in which all emotions/thoughts are impaired, and soon the person loses contact with external reality." In Whiplash, Fletcher pushes Andrew to his very limit in almost all the practices and competitions. For the first few practices Andrew comes out as the better drummer towards the end. However, this pushes him to strive even higher. He begins bleeding on his drum kit and punching through the drum heads out of sheer frustration.

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Through his time in studio band, Andrew loses his relationship with his girlfriend and with his family to focus only on his drumming. Almost halfway through the film, Fletcher shares a story with the band that his old student died in a car accident. It's later in the film when Andrew is to the point of insanity where he himself is in a car accident, in attempt to get to a competition event on time. Proving that he is trying to be one of the best, makes Andrew suffer greatly. I, for one, can feel thus suffering from my own experiences. I'm almost positive many can relate to this struggle of wanting to achieve something great. But it's the internal obstacle of wanting to impress a teacher or parental figure that holds us back.

Before the competition, Fletcher brings in another drummer as his replacement in order to shake up Andrew. Fletcher wants to prove that Andrew is better than all 3 studio band drummers by completely pressuring him to the point of anger and insanity. He loses all other emotions for the rest of the duration of the movie. It's the pressure that drives Andrew away from becoming a great drummer, to proving he's the best in Fletcher's eyes.

After the car accident, Andrew finds out that Fletcher's student who died in a car crash actually hung himself because of how depressed he had gotten ever since he was in Fletcher's band. Fletcher's teaching method was originally disguised to push his students so they can become their very best, but it's revealed that this method causes his students to go clinically isolated and depressed.

Andrew soon falls into a similar state of mind when he's kicked out of Shaffer. Shortly after, he bumps into Fletcher at a jazz club where he tells Andrew that he only wanted to bring out the best of his students' abilities. He admits that his methods of teaching were a bit to the extreme and offers Andrew a position in a band he's conducting. This causes Andrew to push himself to focus on being a great drummer again. He even attempts to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend. All is going well until Fletcher reveals that he knows Andrew snitched on him, sabotaging his career by giving him the wrong music notes right before the competition starts.

It's initially seen that Fletcher wants Andrew to fail now, but Andrew doesn't give up. He goes back on the stage and performs an almost 10 minute performance, proving that he is a great drummer on his own terms. It's not until he takes his anger and transforms it into aggressive playing on stage that he becomes the drummer he had been dreading to be. Before his performance ends, he looks to Fletcher's eyes as they both smile and nod. They both realize that Andrew has finally achieved what they've been working towards.

Whiplash is one of my favorite movies of all time and I do think it'll go down in history as a classic. I'm not a musician in any way but the film still affected me on so many levels. I highly suggest watching it if you haven't seen it yet.

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Sources:

https://www.indiewire.com/2014/10/interview-director-damien-chazelle-talks-whiplash-musical-editing-his-mgm-style-musical-la-la-land-271422/