I started watching it once, but after a few minutes, decided I didn't want to sit through anymore of that guy berating aspiring musicians, no matter how good the pay-off. I've gotten that way with movies.

that guy berating aspiring musicians, no matter how good the pay-off

Well, yeah... part of the backdrop set stage for movie audience... it does use the rather romantic notions gets promoted in society (and educators) what playing music is about... based on some ideal of technical perfection, is only accomplished with the idea of needing pushed/disciplined, with negativity; fear, pain, intimidation, humiliation... sacrifices and suffering for "art".

Further the plays on notion of music as competitiveness and seeking acceptance/validation of some authority; obsession of "great"... chasing the glory comes from being considered great.

That's the backdrop for audience to easily buy into. But music is not really what the movie is about, nor ending. (I enjoyed the movie for the drama)

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It does bring up though what folks imagination of playing music is about. That does exist, many folks could relate to much of that from their music lesson experiences (though not as amplified or extreme). Even on FHO, see folks project similar negativity, fear, authority (doom and gloom); as well as, go on and on with romance of "great". Unfortunately causes a lot of folks to stress, overly worry or just not participate.

I suppose the movie perhaps does perpetuate that. (though it's interesting to hear different interpretations and take away from the ending)

I hear JK Simmons screaming at me to get out of his studio.

Its not about music, but pretty accurately show the competitive nature when music is the desired profession at the level the movie shows. If you don't think its pretty cut throat at that level, especially in NYC, for gigs at Lincoln Center, I don;t know what to tell you. Never had a music teacher treat me like that, but several others both in HS and College, for other subjects, were close.

Don't think anyone said they didn't "think its pretty cut throat at that level" ... not sure how you got that .......

Well, Al is a pirate, so that was probably the first thing that came to mind.

It’s a truly great movie. You only have to watch a few minutes to know that it isn’t all just dramatization—it’s coming from something real. The writer based the screenplay on his own experiences as a drummer in an extremely competitive high school jazz band with a sadistic bandleader. It’s a nice touch that real musicians make up the majority of the cast, but what’s really excellent is the way it captures the competitive environment that exists in music and the cult-like devotion that can develop around a teacher.

I don’t think there’s a single scene in it that doesn’t remind me of a story from real life. At many times it seems as if the scenes came right out of my own experiences and the characters are devastatingly similar to real people I’ve known. The teacher is extreme in his physicality and vulgarity, but this is not so uncommon in high level music (or at least wasn’t in the recent past). The humiliation and manipulation that the teacher uses are tactics that show up in all musical settings.

It’s no coincidence that the heroes of the main characters themselves have had similar experiences—a cymbal thrown at Charlie Parker’s head and his untimely and pitiful death, and Buddy Rich being known for being maniacal toward other musicians. It’s so easy to draw parallels to the violin: Paganini, Beethoven, and Mozart all under similarly draconian pressure cooker conditions. Or you can compare it to Toscanini, who was infamous for his screaming at players.

But, as pointed out, it’s not just a feature of the music world. People are inclined to competition by nature. Even in the movie, this shows up over and over. The young drummer finds himself competing for attention at a family dinner as his major accomplishments are glossed over as family gush over another family player who plays football at a much lower level.

If you look at any discipline, the high pressure mentality shows up at the higher level. In sports, certain coaches have made history in equal measures for their success and their brutality. The same is true in art schools or medical schools. It shows up quite a lot in the violin business.

The mastery in the movie also comes from the portrayal of the relationship between the student who is desperate for validation of his effort to reach greatness and the teacher who is desperate to validate his brutal approach. The teacher is not just a stuffed shirt or a straw man. His love of music is real as is his belief in his approach. And he shows that he can play, even if it’s just old standards at a bar. But more importantly, he has a record of success—a student has made it to a coveted place in a major band. We find out that the former student was not happy and ended his life tragically, but that doesn’t change the teacher’s mind or that of the main character. The movie is a constant struggle for the young drummer to prove to his teacher that he has the drive to endure any hardship and the spark that can be coaxed into an inferno of musicality.

The ending is extremely nuanced in that it does not answer the question of whether the extreme measures are justified by the results. Many people have yielded results by pushing beyond what seem to be the limits, and it only takes one success to justify it all. The film lays all the blemishes bare but invites you to think about the ramifications of choosing to pursue excellence and the dangers of being drawn into the orbit of a sadistic figure of authority.

I mentioned this movie to a friend recently and he told me it’s his all time favorite movie. He says he watches it regularly and knows every scene and line.

He is a musician himself but didn’t have the experience of learning music in a formalized setting as he was self-taught for much of his early career. What’s intriguing to me is that he tells me that seeing the movie makes him regret that he never had the opportunity to learn in those high-stakes conditions, and he wonders if he would have progressed considerably more had he gone through that kind of process.

Reactions to the story vary; some recognize the realism of it and relate to the brutality of the scenes as a reminder of the sacrifices made to play at a high level, with a certain amount of melancholy; some see it as a warning against the extremes of hero worship; some see it rather as a lesson that greatness is attainable in proportion to zeal or willingness to suffer in a crucible to burn away the detritus and expose the pure metal. The film doesn’t impose an answer on the viewer but presents an account as food for thought.

Funny, I just heard a reference to that film on the radio the other day. I think it was on "Fresh Air" in a discussion of a book about love/hate relationships between students and abusive instructors.

J. K. Simmons absolutely assumes the identity of the satanic instructor.
When the instructor looses control of the situation, then tries to gracefully re-assume some sense of control, then tries to take credit. I know that guy.
High mental pressure can be intoxicating. It wasn't the music field, but it was nuts. And the people that flock to these situations are a breed apart. It's a young person's game.

I went to a varnish workshop one summer that was taught by an instructor who acted just like the J.K. Simmons character. Because he was a well known maker, he had a very dedicated fan base that adored him and supported his towering ego. In the class he would be brutal to people, and he would pick on particular students, often yelling at them in front of everyone. He also used a student whose English was limited as the butt of jokes, making her think he was complimenting her while actually putting her down. And he would use that student as a cudgel to attack other students who had annoyed him. He told the class that we were there to learn what he taught, not to waste his time by asking any questions. One student asked several questions when he was rather vague or left out steps in demonstration. This resulted in the class being halted for the instructor to yell at the whole class for half an hour. Everyone had paid to be there, and making a batch of varnish was a part of the class. We were supposed to be given a jar of varnish each after we made the batch together. Because the instructor was in a bad mood, he decided to punish the class by deciding that we wouldn’t be allowed to take our jars of varnish. He told us “I’ve given you the recipe, so you don’t need the varnish. And it cost more to buy the supplies than I expected, so I’m going to keep it.”

At the end of the week, the class went out to dinner at a seafood restaurant to celebrate the end of the week. By that time the instructor had cooled off slightly. But then during the dinner, he was bragging about his girlfriend’s abilities as a pilot and made a claim that was so wild that someone questioned it. This resulted in the instructor almost coming to blows with the student and shouting him down in the restaurant. He might not have thrown a chair or slapped anyone, but he got close.

He varnished a violin that looked nice at the end of the week, but no one in the class ended up with a fully varnished instrument.

As extreme as this sounds, it all happened, and the instructor had a very devoted following of students, some of whom spent weeks in his classes every year. Unlike the story in the movie, this workshop did not inspire anyone to greatness by its conclusion.