Whiplash · written by Damien Chazelle · 2014

Alone after dinner, Fletcher listens intently to a record in his quiet apartment.

Scene 42 of 117 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 39 min into a 1:54 film

The story so farBefore scene 42

A young jazz drummer pursues a place among the country’s best, pushing himself toward greatness under the control of a brilliant, abusive instructor.

Scenes 1–6
Andrew lives inside solitary practice, family movie nights, and an ideal of greatness learned from jazz legends.
Scenes 7–13
Shaffer's hierarchy makes Andrew doubt his prospects, while he wants a chance to become an exceptional drummer.
Scenes 14–17
Fletcher draws Andrew back from transferring, and Andrew enters Studio Band while beginning a relationship with Nicole.
Just before
Scene 39
Andrew sleeps beside his kit with the metronome still running.
Scene 40
Fletcher sets a solitary dinner beside family photographs.
Scene 41
Andrew resumes playing at dawn, pushing through blistered, bleeding hands and rising metronome tempos.
Scene 42
This scene

42INT. FLETCHER’S APARTMENT - DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Silence. Fletcher finishes his meal. Puts the dishes away. Sits down on a couch. Still alone.

The apartment, like his office, is small but elegant. Pictures of icons on the walls. Monk. Holiday. Coltrane...

Fletcher reaches into a stack of LP’s: Chopin, Ravel... Pulls one out with the most delicate touch, as though he were handling a newborn. Sets it on a record player by his side.

A scratch, a hiss, and then --

-- FLETCHER’S SONG. Melancholy, lovelorn...

Fletcher just sits and listens, barely moves -- but you can tell the music now playing means everything to him...

A moment, and then...