Wiplash (2014) Review

 I have seen hundreds of films in my life, but among all, my favorite is Wiplash (2014).

The film is directed by Damien Chazelle. 

He also won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (deserved in my opinion) awarded to  J. K. Simmons. 

Let's start with the plot: Andrew is an aspiring jazz drummer. 

His dream is to become the best drummer in the conservatory.  Fletcher (the teacher) is known for his strict manner. Given the boy's talent, Fletcher tries to bring out his potential by pushing him, often in exaggerated ways. The search for perfection becomes an obsession for the boy, who now spends most of his time practicing. After various events, Fletcher will kick Andrew out of the band, who will decide to abandon his passion for music. In a club, he will meet the teacher again, who will offer him to play with his band. The boy will accept. The performance, which started badly, will later be a success. This is obviously a fairly small summary of the film, but I wrote it just to remind the story to those who don't know it, or who don't remember it. Even though I saw him about a year ago, I still can't say whether or not Fletcher was a good teacher. The reason is that his actions are not done for malicious purposes. On the other hand though, the teacher caused a negative reaction in Andrew, but I can't say right or wrong. JK Simmons managed to play that role in an absurd way. His behavior does not seem fictitious but real. This aspect also made Wiplash an excellent film.   The thing that anyone who has seen the film or simply some scenes will surely have noticed is the color grading.  

When Andrew is in school playing the drums, or having a good time the colors are gold and brown. But when Andrew is doing ANYTHING ELSE the colors are a murky mix of blue and green because anything else disinterests him.

This is a film I recommend to anyone. The reason is that Wiplash is a film that has the ability to excite you, to inspire you, and allows you to get to know the psychological aspect of the protagonist in depth, making the film even more interesting. 

So yes, if you ever get the chance to see it, I recommend you do so.