One man’s charismatic pursuits to tear down the realms of authority and to bring forth justice can make for an excellent political movie; now putting that scenario in the setting of a mental asylum can make for a masterpiece. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a brilliant comedy with many dark elements that gives both laughs and evocative images. The movie is hailed as a classic, and although it is great in several aspects it does not quite hold to its legendary reputation.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, has a cast of actors who are exceptional in their craft and thus create an exceptional story. Jack Nickolsen fantastically changes into the persona of Randell McMurphy, a man who has been careless for most of life spending most of his time partying, whoring, and basically doing whatever he pleases. Randall’s belief is that his time spent in jail can be mitigated by claiming that he is insane and therefore spend the remainder of his time in a mental asylum. Nickolsen does a very persuasive performance, and his impulsive anger creates for some of the more memorable parts of the movie. When compared to his other performances such as the Joker in Batman or Buddy Rydell the therapist in Anger Management, it becomes clear that Nicholsen has a talent for creating explosive scenes and showing raw emotion. His acting style really works in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest because it is this anger that compliments the general confusion and hysteria of the other patients. McMurphy’s rival in the movie is Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) who is a self righteous woman who follows stubborn practices in order to rehabilitate her patients. Nurse Ratched’s character is a brilliant contrast with McMurphy’s as she is all about following the rules and committing to her job. She is the matriarch of the ward and although she is a villain, she is very noble. Ratched’s characterization is praise worthy because she is such a complex character; she is able to manipulate the men by making them follow a very tightly run schedule. McMurphey tries his best to break her and it can be argued that he does as she breaks her neck when he starts choking her. She comes back to mental asylum with a neck brace, her voice is cracked and is now left in the soft tone, and the choice of the director to make Nurse Ratched more docile towards the end was wise because it shows the legacy that McMurphy left behind. The plot focuses on how McMurphy ultimately changes the institution and consequently how the institution changes McMurphy by conducting a lobotomy which makes him into a vegetable.
We get a sense of emasculated men when we see the patients of ward. Many of these men are overly emotional, completely child like or downright delusional. This is where the movie shines because Nickolsen’s supporting cast are very convincing “lunatics” as put by McMurphy. The characters each have their own personalities and mannerisms, which make them so realistic and so memorable. Charlie Cheswick (Sydney Lassick) is a child who follows McMurphy because every alpha male needs a lackey. His character is comic gold in one of the scenes Candy, McMurphey’s female companion, asks Cheswick are you guys all crazy, and Cheswick responds with the nod of his head saying “yes”. Another one of the characters Billy Bibbit (Brad Dourif), is a nervous stuttering young man who makes his advances towards Candy. Dourif’s performance is touching, his progression with Candy in the movie will have viewers giggling as the nervous boy tries so hard to get with the older lady. Billy is the character who transforms the most in the movie, when McMurphy arranges Billy to have sex with Candy, we see him reluctant however when he finally does we see a new Billy, one that loses his stutter and is able to speak confidently. It brings out one of my favorite parts when Nurse Ratched goes up to Billy and asks him ”are you ashamed for what you did”, and Billy answers “no I’m not.” Billy ultimately commits suicide, when nurse Ratched threatens to tell Billy’s mother what her son has done, the scene is very emotional as we see the characters riled up when we hear about his death.
The movie is excellent when it uses a combination of cinematography to make some endearing points. I personally enjoyed the scene that follows McMurphy taking the crew to go fishing and when asked what they are doing McMurphy introduces the cast as doctors from the mental institution. The camera then focuses on each of the patient’s individual faces and shows these patients in a dignified posture. Such a scene is very comical yet the boat scene is also one of the weaknesses of the movie, because the scene feels out of place. The whole concept of the movie was to show the humanity of these characters even though their in an asylum yet this scene makes it look as if these characters are cartoon like because some of their stunts on the boat are just ridiculous. Also the question that pops into my mind was, why McMurphy didn’t escape when he left the asylum because towards the end of the movie it is exactly what McMurphy tries to do and miserably fails.
The ending of the movie has a completely different tone from what is seen throughout the movie. Because we see McMurphy a lively character brain dead, and such a scene does not tie in well with the overall message of the book which is to live life regardless of the situation. Yet McMurphy leaves this lasting legacy which is embodied by Chief (Wil Samson) who breaks free from the asylum after spending decades there, the concluding scene has mixed emotions but is all in all very inspiring.
