Whiplash

I liked it, too. I thought I had said that at some point during this thread but apparently no.

 

great movie. I was fascinated to learn that the drumming sequences were real takes from the actor. he learned to play those parts!

 

I just saw this last night for the first time. What I got from it was that the teacher saw it as his mission to push students beyond their limits, no matter what the cost, no concern for their welfare, so long as it could find/create another Charlie Parker like talent.

The teacher had lost his job due to his personal belief and willingness to go beyond the accepted teaching norms. It was his mission to create exceptional talent. I think that he simply did what he believed he had to do get his student to rise to that Parker like level. Whatever the cost. He chose to put his own reputation on the line to push the kid to the absolute brink and it worked.

 

However, physical and psychological abuse is wrong. Period.

 

Who let the snowflake in?

 

I didn't say it was right....just that the teacher believed it was his mission to do whatever it took. When you think a bit deeper about this film, think about the teacher and why he's teaching. He's obviously very good, but Charlie Parker great himself? No. Then start thinking about what he thinks about himself, his own lack of success. The deep subtext in this movie is that the teacher is punishing himself by proxy for not doing the work he should have done. He's projecting onto the students and telling himself its ok to punish them because its his mission to create the next Charlie Parker.

 

You don't have to spell the film out to me. I watched it twice.

 

I'm right at the end of a week of shooting shows by the School of Rock AllStars, 171 of the very best musicians from more than 200 School of Rock locations. I've seen extraordinary instrumental and vocal performances of breathtaking beauty and skill night after night. So I think I have a pretty good reference. And NOT ONE of these kids appears to have been bullied and slapped into delivering these extraordinary performances - in a lot of cases, I know their teachers and parents and they're genuinely good people. They have been led to do their best work by love and inspiration and a personal desire to do the very best they possibly can.

No, this film is a wonderful example of H.L. Menchen's claim that "For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong."

 

That's one more time than I've seen it -- and it was my second-favorite movie of 2014 (after Boyhood).

 

Late to the game. Saw it last night and was very impressed. Highly recommended if you’re a Jazz fan, music student, or just like movies about music and music making.