One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Review

134min

Genre:       Drama

Director:    Milos Forman

Cast:         Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson…and more

Writers:     Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman and Ken Kesey

-Synopsis-

When mischievous and free-spirited troublemaker ‘R.P. McMurphy’ is transferred from the big house to the ‘nut house’ for evaluation, he forms an unlikely bond with the troubled residents and riles up the joint, embarking on a collision course with the cold implacable head nurse and a system intent on clipping his wings in this all-time classic from visionary Czech director Milos Forman.

Forty-one years after opening in British cinemas, solidifying its star’s reputation as one of the finest actors of his era while delighting audiences with its blend of frank melancholy comedy and tragically touching drama, ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ returns to the UK’s big screens for a limited time and proves why it’s one of only three films to win the Academy Awards ‘Big Five’ of best picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay—the other two being 1934’s ‘It Happened One Night’ and 1991’s ‘The Silence of the Lambs’.

Jack Nicholson stars as unruly jailbird McMurphy, who convinces the authorities to send him for a supposedly cushy stretch at a mental institution, full of colourful characters including the seemingly mute Native American giant ‘Chief Bromden’ (Will Sampson), timid young stutterer ‘Billy’ (Brad Dourif), plus Danny DeVito as ‘Martini’, Christopher Lloyd as ‘Taber’ and a whole host of personalities deemed not fit for life on the outside. But McMurphy’s antics soon clash with the strict rules of the asylum and the steely ‘nurse Ratched’ (Louise Fletcher) who runs it, setting up a classic clash of order and chaos . . . and making some salient observations about our society along the way.

Every performance on show is pitch-perfect here, from Louise Fletcher’s Oscar-winning one as the frosty Nurse Ratched who rules her ward with intimidation, to all the diverse and distinct-looking inmates with their charming but ultimately tragic idiosyncrasies—played by an eclectic and committed cast who disturbed the film’s star by rarely breaking character, several of whom would become stars in their own right.

Meanwhile Nicholson delivers one of the very finest performances of his illustrious career, in a role tailor-made for his trademark sinister and mischievous yet endearing smile—which betrays layers of complexity beneath—bringing to life this freebird destined to have his wings clipped, and in the process reveal something troubling about our society . . . on the way to securing Jack his first of three career Academy Awards.

Forman gravitates towards his influences from cinéma-vérité by crafting a ultra-realist drama with frank naturalistic dialogue for the time and setting—and combines it with an idiosyncratic score from composer Jack Nitzsche—while expertly recreating the workings of a 1960s mental institution, full of quirky but ultimately tragic characters. The audience are encouraged to be forgiving of McMurphy’s disruption while rooting for him as the rowdy everyman struggling for freedom against the system, in a society eager to maintain control and quick to condemn those who don’t fit the mould, proving to be a resonant if slightly naive message.

Although it doesn’t have the depth in terms of morality and social commentary of the original novel—much to the author’s chagrin—‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ still touches on themes of institutionalisation and the complexities of the human mind, and is a critique of the rigid and prescriptive nature of behaviourism (a school of psychology popular in the first half of the 20th century), which has greatly been eclipsed in subsequent years by the more holistic cognitive psychology.

If you’re under the age of sixty, chances are you never got to see one of the great dramas of one the greatest eras in film history at the holy place where all films are meant to be seen, the cinema. Now thanks to the BFI and a few participating cinemas, audiences in the UK have the chance to enjoy Milos Forman’s masterful, heartwarming and heartbreaking adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel (and the subsequent Dale Wasserman stageplay), which would become an iconic piece of movie history . . . and the film which won its young producer—a certain Michael Douglas—his first Oscar.

The Bottom Line . . .

Simultaneously uplifting and depressing, delightful and tragic, ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ is unforgettable drama and moving ‘tragicomedy’ at its very best—thanks to faultless performances all around and a story packed with humanity, but unafraid to say something about our society. Milos Forman’s gem deserves all the accolades and the praise it has garnered over the years, now over forty-years on don’t miss the chance catch this all-time classic where it was meant to be seen.

You can catch ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ at the British Film Institute until the 29th of April, and at selected cinemas around the country.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Awakenings (1990)

Robert De Niro stars as a catatonic and mentally incapable patient at an institution, where a doctor (Robin Williams) introduces an experimental drug which may bring the patients out of their decades-long immobile state—but the success of the drug comes at a cost to everyone as once forgotten souls now find a haunting voice in this touching drama.

Directed by Penny Marshall and starring Robert De Niro, Robin Williams and Julie Kavner among others.

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