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Is Whiplash Damien Chazelle’s best movie? You can make the argument. It’s already on our list of the best music movies ever made, thanks to its deft understanding of Jazz, and of the struggles to make it as a student-musician at a competitive New York conservatory. And it has an ending that we’re still talking about, for the conflicted way that it makes us feel. The magnificent film, which turns 10 this year, earned five Oscar nominations (including Best Picture), and earned the Academy Award for JK Simmons, and his portrayal of the abusive instructor/conductor Fletcher. But as it turns out, Simmons had a deep misunderstanding of Damien Chazelle before the two ever worked together.
Whiplash isn’t Chazelle’s first movie. But he wasn’t exactly “known” when it came to cast up the feature. In an Oral History of Whiplash that has been published by Vanity Fair, JK Simmons spoke about meeting Chazelle for the first time in a restaurant… and looking right past him because the skinny, curly-haired kid didn’t match the image that J. Jonah Jameson had in his mind. According to Simmons:
I see a genius script by somebody who clearly understands jazz, the quintessential American musical art form—and a largely African American art form. The guy’s name is Damien Chazelle. I’m picturing Antoine Fuqua. I’m going into this meeting thinking it’s going to be some tall, elegant-looking Black guy with a beret. We go to meet at this restaurant, and of course he’s there a few minutes early because he’s a young guy. I get there right on time, as is my wont, and I’m literally looking around the restaurant, which is not very crowded—I’m looking right past or through Damien, who finally stands up and waves at me. I’m like, Who’s this little curly-haired kid from New Jersey?
That’s why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. JK Simmons eventually teamed with Damien Chazelle first for a short film that eventually became Whiplash, and then again in the movie that I believe to be Chazelle’s masterpiece: the magical musical La La Land.
But Whiplash would go a long way toward establishing Damien Chazelle as one of the most exciting filmmakers of this current generation. We gave it a perfect 5 stars in our official Whiplash review, and have continued to track the director’s fascinating career, up to and including the controversial Babylon, which has its detractors but also, I feel, is going to be a movie that more people discover in years to come.
Chazelle doesn’t have an upcoming movie that we can put on your radar in the immediate future. But it’s worth noting that Whiplash will return the theaters beginning on Friday, September 20, in honor of the movie turning 10 years old. If you haven’t seen the film on the big screen, please do so. Just, bring your anxiety medication with you. You might need it by the final scene.