Whiplash: Masterful, the film’s ending is one of the most successful of the last 10 years

Spoilers – Warning, the article below contains potential spoilers. If you do not wish to know its contents, please do not read the following…

Damien Chazelle’s first major film before La La Land (besides his previous feature, much more private), Whiplash is a visceral, violent and relentless dive into a world the young filmmaker knows well: the world of jazz.

between jazz and cinema

Although he originally intended to become a professional drummer, Chazelle tried to relate his difficult years at the conservatory, making his personal experience a real way of the cross for the main character of his film. Throughout the film, the young and talented Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) meets Fletcher, a tyrannical professor with brutal and despotic methods, who is masterfully played by J.K. Simmons performs.

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Bursting with high-tension sequences that can be overturned in an instant at the slightest mistake in pacing, Whiplash is an emotional rollercoaster that keeps the audience holding their breath… until the film’s unforgettable final sequence (which we recommend you read before proceeding, if you haven’t already).

Abused, brutalized, sometimes physically abused by the teacher, Andrew ends up in a confrontation with the latter and leaves the conservatory forever, while Fletcher is also fired. A few months later, the two characters meet at a jazz club, where Fletcher tells Andrew that he has only pushed him to the limit to show his potential, before offering him one last chance to perform on stage at a prestigious festival.

A final masterful performance

In the final scene of the feature film, Andrew goes there to prove himself and realizes at the last moment that Fletcher has lied to him and charged him with a piece he never worked on. That’s when the virtuoso kicks in for the last ten minutes of the film: determined to play no matter what, Andrew launches into the next piece himself and leads the entire orchestra before an angry Fletcher.

As the score unfolds—during a stunningly crafted scene where music and cinema blend wonderfully, and where Damien Chazelle’s camera suddenly transforms into a jazz instrument—Fletcher’s anger gives way to his admiration for the young drummer. In a final soulful solo, he ends up recognizing his student’s entire genius without uttering a single word, drawing a grand double bar at the end of the score. Whiplash.

(re)discover an excerpt from the film…