Firstly, I thank my friend who asked me to see this
masterpiece of a film and critique it. Without her, I would have taken a little
while longer to discover this jewel.
The movie follows the story of a 19 year old college kid,
Andrew Neimer. Seeing that he is a bit of a prodigy with the drum sticks, he is
taken under the wings of Terence Fletcher, a conductor of a major Jazz band.
And Terence Fletcher plays the perfect hard ass taskmaster. Probably the kind
that makes Coach Carter look like a kindergarten student. He has only one
mission to his life, that is, to do whatever it takes to excel at music. And the members
of his band, are always at the receiving end of this ruthlessness.
J.K. Simmons, in black, and totally bald, and totally buff, plays
the quintessential devil conductor, with the ear for detail that would put an
owl to shame.
He almost single handedly conducts the film with his
performance as a musical conductor who leads a Jazz band.
For a movie that is completely immersed in the beats and the
bars of music, it’s the silence that overtakes; it’s the silence that shines
through. Silence, when Simmons lashes out, silence, when the naive Neimann
Teller, looks dazed, it’s the silence, that draws you in, wants you to be
there, to witness, as you breathe, and not a whisper shall exit, as you watch.
And somehow, through some wizardry, the camera just manages
to be at the right place at the right time without ever RUSHING or DRAGGING.
From a vibrating drum stick to the sheet music and out from the cymbal and on
to the streets. All in perfect symphony. All on the mark! Perhaps a major front runner for the best editing oscar.
And the conversations, nothing is random. But disguised to
feel so. Every statement, leading to some sort of a crescendo, a realization, that
we as an audience, will be allowed to share, and them as the characters, will
only just brush unwillingly against.
To be so subtle and so strong, both at the same time, is a
feat so rare, I feel delighted to have witnessed this film.
And yet, in the most surprising of ways, every now and then, the film manages to
be just funny enough for us to slip back into the chair. And that’s only
because we are required to. We are required to settle down, before another
symphony strikes hard at us. And its only a matter of time, before we are drawn
right back in, to the edge of the seats, not in anticipation, but in awe perhaps.
Just when I think, that the film is beginning to fall back
into a place so familiar, like a
run of the mill scene, it rises up.
For instance in the dinner table family conversation scene, the scene starts slow, and builds up to a crescendo, to finally reveal a stark contrast of the human beings who often settle for a comfortable mediocrity, against the young Neimann, who shall accept nothing
but the absolute best for himself and his dreams. Inspiring!
The force of young unadulterated dreams. The unyielding
optimism of the kid within us, that spoke up at family dinners, unafraid of
looking ridiculous. Captured beautifully in the innocent, and yet fierce face
of Neimann.
As I was watching it, I was scared, that the filmmaker would
reduce this “masterpiece” in the making, to something simpler like “a story,
well told”. But no, it stays above. It just gets more intense, and just bloody
stays above the pitfalls of plot. And there’s plenty of plot, for the average
moviegoer to jerk off to. But it stays above that, it stays afloat.
It challenges the audience to reach it. To have a heart and
a spirit, big enough to understand the characters. Unlike Christopher Nolan,
who only challenges the audience intellectually, this movie challenges the
audience’s desire to excel or dream or plain just feel. To feel for things,
beyond the mundane, beyond the mediocre.
There is no respite for Neimann on his journey. His master,
Fletcher, flogs his spirit time and again, to see if he comes out stronger. And
Neimann is no easier on himself mind you. Ruthless, is the only word that
creeps up to describe his attitude towards himself.
And as I watched it all I could do was secretly hope, that
at no point, will he be destroyed by it. His ruthlessness. Though all of
history has something else to suggest, I found myself praying, that he
survives.
The magic of this story, much like “Night crawler”, is that
the chief characters are beyond the realm of the regular human. And yet, we
connect, and we cheer for them. Even if they are going to drive themselves into
a truck or off a cliff in trying to get to the place called greatness, we still
cheer them. We cheer them till they crash, perish and get destroyed. Maybe
because we feel safe in the comfort of our seats, watching a couple of
characters do something we always aspire, but never truly dare to do. To pursue a dream
as if our life depends on it!
The blood Neimann leaves behind on drums and the cymbals is
almost the price he is paying for a shot at greatness. And he leaves behind
plenty of blood.
Fletcher and Neimann are the same guys. Almost like a mirror
placed in front of either of them. It was established in the first shot, when
the kid is practicing his notes on a drum and Fletcher zeroes in onto him. Kind
of like the meeting of the past and the future. A beautiful way to begin a
movie.
Whenever Fletcher falls, so does Neimann. They both rise and
fall together.
And the way the movie ends was amazing…
When the little blood and sweat that was
due, when it is shed, greatness shall fall down at your feet, and the credits
shall roll. Greatness for both the master and his follower.
And I have a feeling it’s the director Damien Chazelle, who
has begun his journey towards greatness.
