As a music-themed work, jazz repertoires such as the title song "Whipping" in the play are in perfect harmony with the progress of the plot. The scattered but not chaotic drum beats, along with piano, marriage proposal, and wind music, play rigorous and humorous phrases. When we were still immersed in jazz singers leaning on the piano and singing softly and softly, an orchestra of more than ten people showed us the shock of academic "jazz". And our hero Andrew, although he is in a top music academy, has no choice but to be mediocre, and can only be a backup drummer in the second-rate band of the academy. An accidental opportunity gave him the opportunity to enter the orchestra of his mentor, Fletcher. Everyone knows that strict teachers produce high-level apprentices, but Fletcher seems to have gone too far. Once the musicians fail to meet the requirements, they will be "abused" by him, ranging from showing off tricks and swearing skills, slapping the players in the face, or even losing their status or even being thrown out of the house. Under his stimulation, Andrew broke up with his girlfriend and devoted himself to practice. The tiger's mouth was bloody, and he put on a layer of Band-Aid and continued to practice. In order to achieve the speed required by the instructor, Andrew tried his best, blood splattered on the drum surface, and people were terrified. This is where he is learning music, it is clearly challenging the physical limit, and it is no wonder that the audience complained: This is actually a " horror film".
All kinds of pictures, it is inevitable to think of the experiences of many musical prodigies. In their story, dozens of hours of practice every day, fierce competition and elimination are definitely the basic configuration. Usually, what motivates them to suppress their children's playful nature and climb the peak in the music world is either a strict teacher or a parent who is chasing after practicing the piano with a small ruler. And the pair of masters and apprentices in the film can also find projections in real life. Fletcher is a self-taught, grumpy Buddy Rich who spurs the band members, and Andrew is a cymbal smashed by Joe Jones. Charlie Parker, who has become a master, has also become a vivid example of Bletcher's stimulation of Andrew in the film.
"Eat the hardships and the hardships make you a superior person", this sentence has always been applicable in ancient and modern China and abroad. In the play, the students wrestled for the position of a core drummer, rehearsed wildly for a professional competition, and suffered a lot. Isn't it the current situation of every student in a music school today? One of Buddy Ritchie's mentors recalls the master's teenage years, surprised at how easily the self-taught kid did everything he could have dreamed of. But when he saw Buddy's hand, he understood the situation: "This career requires not only mental training, but also physical training."
But, in the art world, is there only one standard left in technology? Technology should serve the understanding of the work and the expression of emotion. In the whole film, the only issues that the instructor pays attention to to the band are speed, rhythm, and intonation. On the contrary, only the counterattack of the relatives of the male protagonist is worth pondering: "Isn't music judged by subjective feelings?"
The perception of art is indeed based on perfect technology, but becoming a slave to technology, or can become a top musician, Serving the world-class orchestra, but never become a master and an artist. The protagonist told his relatives that he yearned for Charlie Parker's life trajectory: "I'd rather die of alcoholism at 34 and be the talk of the dinner table than live to 90 years old in obscurity with a lot of money." Sounds like It's a rhetoric. The appearance of Charlie greatly promoted Bebop as a style of jazz rather than a technique scattered in the works. However, his glory was interrupted by increasingly serious alcohol and drug abuse around 1946. Charlie, addicted to alcohol and drugs, is no longer the legendary drummer full of creativity.
You can't survive without being crazy, but please note that this is the statistics of success, not the essence and necessary condition of any career. The subtlety of jazz lies not only in the difficult rhythm changes, but also in the free and unrestrained musical attitude. It is not taut and crazy, but elegant and casual, with a lot of improvisation in the performance, with a taste of doing whatever you want.
Trying to hurt yourself to reach technical peaks also doesn't seem to be the theme the director is trying to present. The film's director and screenwriter Damian Chazelle expressed surprise at the "misreading" of the public in an interview. A near-perfect drum solo is certainly worth enjoying, but it's more of a tragedy than a triumphant ending. Mian, who also studied jazz drums in high school, happened to have a mentor like Fletcher who encouraged him to pursue his musical dreams in a fiery way. Only in the end, Mian realized that he had no musical talent and turned to film development. The 29-year-old, with this film, has won many awards including the Golden Globe Award. Perhaps his choice can also find a real interpretation for this movie.
But I still love this ending. What I see is not a paranoid who is eager to prove himself, show off his skills, and take revenge on his mentor in his own way, but a teenager who is immersed in the rhythm, gradually relaxes, and finds himself in music. In any case, we should not forget what music is.
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