One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
By Charlotte Dekle
Image Source: IMDb
logline: A criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients.
Source: IMDb
Movies of rebellion are commonplace nowadays, where the oppressed stick it to the oppressors, usually with the help of a charismatic leader that leads the pack of misfits to overthrow the tyrannical forces that seek to oppress them, leaving a better world in their wake. This is one of my favorites of the rebellion stories because the rebellion is only partly successful. For in this movie, the tyrant does not give up their iron fist; life continues as if nothing had ever happened. You may feel cheated out of a happy ending for the charismatic leader, who is a statutory rapist and that should’ve been mentioned more, but the ending of this movie is no less triumphant albeit on a small scale. When the leader’s power was quelled by an archaic medical procedure that I already brought up in my Ratched review, the fire had seemingly been tamped down. But rising from the fire came an unlikely hero. I will not spoil the movie, despite my yearning to tell everyone how amazing this film is, though some of the topics are outdated and have aged poorly. Where Ratched had vibrant colors, Cuckoo’s Nest is muted, not showing a mental institution as a colorful workplace but as a dull wash of beige and gray. It seems like joy could not possibly fester in this atmosphere, but the entrance of a charismatic leader helps to shake things up. Cuckoo’s Nest is one of three movies to win the big five Oscars at the Academy Awards that year (Picture, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Direction, Screenplay) so, I’m going to try to praise those specific aspects. The direction is understated and doesn’t draw attention to itself. Forman captures the character dynamics so well; you can almost feel that you’re in that bus careening down the streets of Oregon, or in the commotion and/or silence of the mental institution. The adapted screenplay based on Ken Kesey’s novel of the same name is lacking depth on the topic of mental illness but it’s enjoyable and lively nonetheless. Though, there are some rather obvious moments - after the kid with a stutter, who has been low on self-esteem, has sex and then is praised by the fellow patients his stutter is gone. As if that burst of confidence is what did it for him. But the second that he is threatened by Nurse Ratched, the stutter returns. I’m going to talk about my favorite characters and cast members below but I just wanted to mention that Danny DeVito, Scatman Crothers, and Christopher Lloyd (in his screen debut) are all in this movie, playing two mental patients and orderlies. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest as a whole is, as my mother referred to it, genius.
My Favorite Characters:
Jack Nicholson as R.P. McMurphy: if the word firecracker can be used to describe a performance, it’s this one. This character shot Nicholson into the highest echelon of prestigious acting. He explodes on-screen with the screen presence reserved for Godzilla, but it’s not overacting. It’s a very delicate balance that he strikes, resulting in an unforgettable performance and an Oscar win. A statutory rapist who feigns insanity is sentenced to a mental examination and defies the pills and the electroconvulsive therapy to become the leader of the ragtag band of patients to fight the oppressive Nurse Ratched (see below). But to be honest, it’s mostly the eyebrows. So much can be said with just the lift or tilt of an eyebrow.
Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched: her cold and calculating eyes rule the mental institution with a steely gaze that earn her a place alongside my favorite characters. She maintains control through manipulation beneath a calm demeanor and that’s somehow scarier than an outburst. No matter how chilling her requests, her manner remains still. She gives the illusion of choice but she has the patients so tightly wound around her finger that nothing changes. She’s less of a villain, although her torment of Billy is crueler than just a fed-up woman who refuses to be controlled by a bunch of men. Fletcher won an Oscar for this and cemented Ratched as one of the most terrifying villains in movie history.
Brad Dourif as Billy Bibbit: I guess I’m just praising the Oscar-nominated performances. Sadly Dourif didn’t win but that doesn’t mean that I can’t shower him with praise as the stuttering, anxious Bibbit. He’s a hopeless romantic with a very Freudian blaming of his mother as the root of some of his mental illness. He’s so sweet and doesn’t deserve the depressing ending he gets. He spends most of the movie crouched in self-pity. He’s probably one of the more cautious patients in the institution, being the voice of reason when McMurphy is up to something. But he slowly sheds the cautious voice and begins to rebel against the tyrannical Ratched regime.
This movie is rated R. Here’s why:
Violence
Language
Frightening and Intense Scenes
Sexual Content
Favorite Part: This part contains SPOILERS for the ending of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. The ending is probably one of the most famous scenes in film history. Early in the film, McMurphy devises a plan on how to escape the mental institution, though ill-conceived at the time. McMurphy planned to lift a hydrotherapy fountain and throw it out the window, and from the window, he shall escape and freedom shall be restored. This does not go according to plan because after he attacks Ratched, he is subjected to a lobotomy. A lobotomy is when a doctor severs connections in the brain’s prefrontal cortex which is essential for the planning and execution of complex new temporal structures of behavior, speech, and logical reasoning. This renders McMurphy completely subdued, no longer able to perform basic functions let alone lead a revolution. Chief Bromden, a character who had been mute for the entirety of the film, sees the subdued McMurphy and realizes that the rebellion is in his hands. So, he smothers McMurphy with a pillow to put him out of his misery and lifts the hydrotherapy fountain (for he is stronger than McMurphy) and throws it through a window. He triumphantly escapes, symbolizing the freedom that McMurphy and all the patients had been longing for. Amazing.
Where to Watch:
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