Whiplash is a movie that felt like it took me somewhere. It seems ironic to me that Wild, a movie about a journey, left me feeling like I went nowhere and Whiplash, a film mostly set in band rehearsal rooms, really made me feel like I got a wider view of the world. Such is the magic of film making!
The performances in this film are completely amazing. The direction is taken on with such care and attention to detail. The editing is rhythmic and poetic and evocative. The story is small, but somehow feels like an epic battle, digging deeply into a world that most of us viewers probably know very little about. Oh my gosh, I really enjoyed this movie! I enjoyed it in the way I enjoy delicious salted caramel; I just wanted to roll around in it for a while.
This leads me to a huge revelation that I must announce to you now: Drumline is no longer my favorite movie about drumming.
It's ok. Just take a minute.
Whew. Thanks for sticking with me.
I can't wait to watch this movie again. It seems too small of a topic for Oscar to ever vote for it, but I guess I am grateful for the new policy of nominating more than five movies, so that a gem of a film like this one can get it's time in the sun. Go see it!
It can be such a challenging film at times. I agree that so much credit goes to the films defiance of it's simplicity. It's simple and compact in scope yet you get lost in it almost instantly. In the passion and power of the players. It's hard not to compare the film the the music itself. At the end of the day a song might be played by only a few musicians on a few instruments yet it has the power to take you away.
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