This article is excerpted from "The Mutual Abuse Movies Men Shouldn't Miss"
(Sections 1 and 2 are about Yuzuru Hanyu, who was indomitably committed to breaking through the limits at the Winter Olympics. His wonderful sharing is worth reading through the official account)
03
Late at night, in the best music school in the country, a first-year boy is practicing drums:
Suddenly, a bald man came in and asked:
And Niman didn't expect what kind of "nightmare" he would encounter from this day on. On the first day he walked into the rehearsal room of the strongest orchestra, Niman saw Fletcher's harshness and oppression. Before Fletcher came on stage, the rehearsal room was full of freedom and joy. But the moment he stepped into the rehearsal room, everyone stood up, bowed their eyebrows, and said nothing.
The air instantly froze. Depressed feeling arises spontaneously:
Soon, Niemann will know why. Fletcher is an extremely demanding and demanding teacher. In the first rehearsal, he stopped because a musician was out of tune:
Then audition one by one: when he locks down one of the musicians. The child was so frightened that he twitched and dared not speak. Fletcher also yelled at him:
The musician froze in place with tears in his eyes. But Fletcher did not give him the slightest sympathy and fired him directly. The dramatic thing is that this musician is not the one who is out of tune, but someone else who is out of tune:
During the whole process of auditioning and picking mistakes, Fletcher exuded a violent aura, like a pair of pliers tightly pinching the nerves of each musician. These children are the most talented and competitive musicians in the school, but in front of Fletcher, they dare not show the slightest arrogance and pride. Soon, Niman will suffer too. Fletcher arranged for him to play solo. During the break, Fletcher comforted him with a smile on his face, telling him to have confidence and believe in his aptitude:
When he came on stage, he was also "complimenting" him:
But suddenly, Fletcher looked solemn and said to Neiman very seriously: "No, you didn't keep up with my rhythm." Fletcher's ears could pick up the tiniest nuances of every beat, and every beat, a second faster, a second slower, couldn't. Must be exactly the same. Neiman became less and less confident and could only try to hit a few more times. Fletcher listened and threw a chair over:
He asked Niman, is your tempo fast or slow? Niman couldn't answer at all. Fletcher mocked and humiliated Niman with very unpleasant words, and directly humiliated Niman and cried. Connecting with the musicians who were expelled before, it is obvious that most of the students have been "educated" by Fletcher in this way. In the face of such a huge blow, Niman did not back down and returned to that ordinary orchestra. He began to ridicule the teacher and responded with "counterattack".
04
Neiman begins a frantic masochistic training. His goal is clear. He was admitted to the best music school in the country to become the most outstanding drummer. No, not just outstanding. It's about being a part of the best. He's going to Lincoln Center, the epicenter of New York's classical music scene, the stage that all artists dream of. If he could, he would be on par with the greatest drummers in the world. The history has left its name, and it has left its own burning light in the history of mankind. So, after being humiliated by Fletcher and seeing his own shortcomings, he began to practice around the clock:
Practice until the tiger's mouth bleeds
Relying on a piece of Band-Aid to relieve the pain, I practiced the drum surface until it was full of blood spots, and refused to stop:
Soon, Niman's chance came. During one competition, the lead drummer he was serving handed him the score. When Niman bought a bottle of water, the music sheet disappeared. The lead drummer timidly went to Fletcher and told him that he could not play. Because he can't remember the whole score at all. Fletcher was furious. At this moment, Niman took the initiative to ask Ying: "I have practiced, I can memorize the score and let me play."
Niemann's frantic practice paid off. Not only did he do it well. After returning to the rehearsal room, he also gained the trust of Fletcher and took the position of the main drummer.
With Fletcher's affirmation, Niman became beaming with a smile and pride on his face. Even during dinner, he couldn't help but declare to his family: "I have become part of the best band in the school, and I am moving towards a great goal." It can be seen that he is full of confidence in the future. Have confidence in your own strength.
However, it didn't take long for Fletcher to send everyone a new score. He left Niman alone and said that this score is a double-speed drum beat, the kind I asked you to play for the first time, and you were chosen by me based on this style of play. Niman suddenly revealed a hint of hilarity. But Fletcher told him he had now found a new drummer. "Why don't you two compare to see who is more suitable to be the lead drummer?" This new drummer is none other than others. It was the one that Niman served before, the lead drummer of that general band. Neiman reluctantly challenged him a few times. What made him extremely unhappy was that Fletcher actually made the other party the main drummer, and he became the person who turned the score again. He was very upset.
But Fletcher told him: "Don't be fucking squeamish, you have the ability to win back your strength!" So next, in a new rehearsal, Fletcher made a big move, letting Neiman and the other two There are three drummers, and three people are playing drums on wheels. Whoever can hit the rhythm of this score will be the main drummer. Before the wheel fight, he reminded the rest of the band that we're all here tonight:
Three drummers can only obey their orders. Only when the most accurate and exciting rhythm is played will the rehearsal officially begin. In this process, the three people have to force their best state:
Everyone was exhausted, with trembling fingers: Spirit and body were overdrawn to the brink of collapse:
Fletcher did not soften his heart at all, and continued to press them with an iron face. In the end, it was Niman who forced out his strongest fighting ability and played the entire score brilliantly. He took the lead drummer's seat again.
Do you think this time is absolutely stable? However it didn't. Due to the habit of throwing things away, I lost the sheet music last time. During this competition, the bus broke down, and Niman left the drumstick in the car dealership when he rented a car. By the time he drove back, he was already late. When I saw Fletcher, Fletcher said that sooner or later, he didn't even bring drumsticks, what did you use to play the drums? Niman went back to fetch the drumsticks and hurried to the arena, but he got into a car accident:
Covered in blood, he didn't care. Continue to run to the field:
He competed with injuries and blood all over his body and refused to give up the position of lead drummer. Why fight so hard? Because the viewers sitting under the stage are the ones who can decide his future destiny. As long as his performance can be noticed by them again and again, it will greatly improve the possibility of him entering Lincoln Center in the future. This time, however, he screwed up. He was hit so hard that he couldn't even hold the drumsticks:
The rhythm was messed up and ruined the whole show. Fletcher came up to him and announced:
Perhaps, this is the vent of anger and depression after Fletcher's rigorous training and many taunts. But to a greater extent, I think, that is Niman's unwillingness to this sentence and his anger after being deprived of his position. I did everything I could to play the drums, why did you judge me "death" because of one mistake? It took me so much time and energy to sit in this position, why did you let me go?
05
Because of impulsiveness, Niman paid the price. He was expelled. After returning home, watching the video of himself playing drums as a child, Niman shed tears. His love, his dreams, his expectations, and the goals he wanted to hit all turned into a cloud of smoke. Disqualified from continuing his studies at the Conservatory, he will never be able to stand on the stage at Lincoln Center and achieve greatness. At the same time, an investigator came to the door and told him the truth of one incident. Earlier, during a rehearsal, Fletcher introduced the students to a musician he had dug up:
Unfortunately, the musician died. Fletcher told everyone that the student who stepped into Lincoln died in a car accident. But it wasn't until he met the investigators that Niman knew that the musician had not been very happy for a long time:
Obviously, the outside world thinks this has something to do with Fletcher's extreme education. He has been using a reverse incentive method, suppressing and ridiculing, forcing students to pursue perfection and pursue perfection. The same goes for teaching Niman. The first time Neiman hit the wrong time, he not only threw the chair, but also rushed up to slap him:
even insulted him:
Fletcher himself is a proud, foul-mouthed teacher who cannot accept any mistakes, omissions and flaws. If a student is a little negligent, he will "attack in life", reducing it to nothing:
Fletcher is a "scumbag", though. When it comes to spurring students, he is paranoid and persecuting the other party in a way that he thinks is correct. He does not want students to be complacent, let alone any laziness. He wants everyone to stretch like a string all the time. Just like, keep pushing your limits. That's why in the movie, as soon as he enters the rehearsal hall, the air becomes extremely depressing. Many viewers who watched the movie believed that Fletcher's education method was completely perverted, abused, extremely inhumane, and could not play a role in supervision. Indeed, in reality, if any teacher educates students like this, it is estimated that they would have been beaten by their parents to the point where they wouldn't even know each other. I also don't think that urging a person to pursue perfection must be done in such an extremely perverted and ridiculed way. I have seen a lot of this kind of stupid education method in middle school. Mainly because I didn't want to drop out of school, I didn't fucking beat those idiots. But in the movie, the character of Fletcher is artistically modified and exaggerated. In a way, he is actually a mirror. How he educates students is not the focus of the film. What matters is what Niemann does in the face of external pressure and ruthless taunts brought on by Fletcher. From the very beginning, Nieman established his purpose in life. This is a fire in his heart:
When he lost the election for the first time, as a "come here", his father, who had already compromised with ordinary life, persuaded him to look away. If you don't play drums, you can do something else anyway. But what Niemann had to say:
So, to get into the best bands, he practiced, practiced, practiced like crazy:
He is actually a paranoid, he must be on the highest stage and play the most beautiful drums. So when his girlfriend told him that he just chose a school at random and didn't have any dreams in life, he didn't understand:
The whole person's expression is twisted:
After entering the orchestra, in order to firmly occupy the position of the main drummer, he finally chose to give up this relationship in the face of this girl he had worked so hard to catch up with. He doesn't want to be distracted, he just wants to pursue his inner desire:
He allowed himself to sink into loneliness, beat the drums desperately, and break the ceiling. Hate your own cowardice, powerlessness, and incompetence:
In the face of Fletcher's ridicule and suppression, he always rebounded violently, and he must show him a stronger stance. Even if the drums are beaten until the skin breaks open:
Look, isn't this another Yuzuru Hanyu? Obviously feel the pain, but still have to fight with it. Even the slightest bit, can not compromise with their own cowardice and boredom. In fact, the relationship between Niemann and Fletcher can be said to be a typical example of "mutual abuse and mutual aid". His masochistic, life-threatening practice attitude was exactly what Fletcher was looking for with all his might. This is the final climax of the movie.
06
After dropping out of school, Niman lived a "boring" life under the persuasion of his family. Work, watch movies, go shopping. He removed the drummer posters on the wall and put away the CDs he had been obsessed with. It seems that I really want to be a normal young man who is far away from cravings and enjoys the ordinary life. Until that night, he ran into Fletcher in a bar. Fletcher told him that because some students said things against him, he gave evidence about his education method: "I was fired by the school." Talking about his constant pressure on students, those excessive methods, Fletcher Letcher said he has no regrets. Because he believed in these, he knew:
Once again, he tells Niemann the story of how the great drummer succeeded:
In his opinion, many people fail to achieve greatness and exert their creativity to the extreme, precisely because they are easy to satisfy, have no desire for limits, and do not force themselves to break through the upper limit of talent. He has been looking for students with such strong willpower, but has never really encountered them. Niman asked, but everyone has a ceiling of willpower. What if you are knocked down by you? Fletcher told him:
Watch it, Niemann nodded in approval at this explanation. Explain that in his heart, he agrees with Fletcher. In the depths of his heart, he has always longed to be such a person, never giving up and pushing the limits. His inner longing for excellence, his desire for greatness, and his paranoia for perfection coincided with the man in front of him. Just then, Fletcher had a gig and was missing a drummer. It's a pity that the other two drummers, one has given up playing drums, and the other, Fletcher doesn't look down on it at all. I came to him at the beginning, just to stimulate Niman. Niemann agreed to Fletcher. Then came the best part of the movie. When Neiman was ready to go out and wanted to perform brilliantly in the show and win the favor of the professionals in the audience, he suddenly found that the score that Fletcher gave him was different from everyone else. This is a trap for Fletcher. In revenge for his teaching career, he said unfavorable things:
Sure enough, Neiman was a mess. Fletcher came over again and laughed at him:
He looked at the professionals in the audience and knew it was over, everything was screwed up, and he was sentenced to death again.
At the end of the song, he walked through the dark corridor, as if he had reached the end of his dream and into the abyss. Father hugged him and let him go home. In other words, forget about playing the drums, forget about it all. However, just as he was about to leave, Niman turned abruptly and returned to the stage, ignoring Fletcher's introduction, and began to perform. The others were dumbfounded, but he led all the musicians with drum beats and played a wonderful piece of music.
He just wanted to play drums, just wanted to complete a performance of his own on the stage.
He played extremely focused and immersed. Even his father watched and realized that there was a huge vitality and a great desire in this crazy drum beat.
He infected all the musicians on stage with the sound of drums. Soon, Fletcher was also infected by him. After playing the first song, Niman still refused to stop and continued to beat frantically, indulging in the rhythm.
Fletcher was brought in little by little by this powerful rhythm and couldn't help directing for him. Let the whole audience focus on him.
At the end of the movie, Niman showed his talent on the stage like no one else, showing his skills after approaching the limit again and again, and at the same time showing his love, desire and pursuit. As if to burn himself out. Finally, as the drumsticks dropped, he smiled at Fletcher. This "scumbag" teacher seems to have finally found the person he wanted, the unyielding dream catcher. One second before the end of the movie, Niemann became the focus of the audience in a tense rhythm:
07
The film called "Boom Drummer" I watched when I was in my twenties. The twenties are the days when a person has the strongest desire, the most impact and is not afraid of being discouraged in his life. I still remember watching that movie at that time, and I was deeply infected by Niman's strong rebound and self-abuse-style practice, and took it for granted. I felt that anyone who pursues excellence will definitely force himself. Of course, with the passage of time and experience, I no longer view life that way, nor do I view achievements in life that way. For specific ideas, you can see my "New Year's Message" written before. Life has many dimensions, and of course you don't have to burn yourself out to shine. Moreover, whether you can burn yourself to become extraordinary is not something you can decide by your own efforts. That's a combination of many factors. So, as I got older, I also realized a little bit soberly that Niman's attitude has nothing to do with whether he can finally reach the other side of his dream. Maybe, after he finished that wonderful performance at the end of the movie, he still had to leave the stage and continue to work... But when reading Yuzuru Hanyu's story, many scenes in the film crossed my mind again and again, Makes my heart boil. Needless to say, Yuzuru Hanyu and Niman have a lot in common. They are not afraid of challenges, they are also self-abuse, and they will not give up until their goals are achieved. Faced with frustration, boredom and loneliness, they sink deep into it, pushing themselves to the limit step by step. No matter what the result is, no matter whether Niman can achieve an extraordinary life like Yuzuru Hanyu, at least, their love and obsession are the same.
There was once a question on Zhihu about which movie made you cry late at night. A highly ranked respondent mentioned Burst Drummer. Why? He said that since he was a child, he never seemed to have such a fanatical obsession with anything, such a persistent pursuit, such a crazy and self-abusing drive. The girl who arrives, then change another one. Niman's determination of "I must do it for you" and the obsession to achieve the goal made him feel the lack of life.
To a certain extent, perhaps, this is why we, as ordinary people, love competitive sports. We watched each and every talented player attack the limits of human beings in the arena, and watched them complete the feat with strong willpower with the determination of "I will do it to the death". This whole process , there is a heroic, lonely beauty. When you see Yuzuru Hanyu challenge 4A again and again and fail again and again, you will realize that even if a genius is not capable, the human will concentrated in him, the desire to break the limit, is how shocking ,Touching. Especially for "people who have come over" like Niman's father, when they see such a dazzling will and desire blooming in a young man in his 20s, it is difficult not to be shocked. Who wasn't a Niman when he was young? But in the end, he slowly became a father who "wanted to be a writer but couldn't end up being a middle school teacher". Then he will explain to his son: "It's okay, life is just like this."
Indeed, life has more than one dimension. Life doesn't have to be burnt out to be a life worth living. People should not live one way or the other, without a buffer of the soul, living in pain and self-abuse. Otherwise, in the end, it will be the same as Fletcher's student. But I think that even if the years go by, our desires lessen and our wills are no longer so strong, we should still retain some of the eagerness of our youth in our hearts, and let our will and determination beat us from time to time. Keep it, not to make us have to get something. But to make us feel alive. Let us be content to play the drums on our respective stages of life, not to prove anything.
Just because we lived it hard.
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