This Edition I chose to write about the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, directed by Miloš Forman, based on the novel written by Ken Kesey, was released in 1975. The darkly humorous R rated picture won five Academy Awards the following year for best actor, best actress, best director, best screenplay, and best picture. Jack Nicholson became notorious in America because of roles from this, Chinatown, and The Shining. This film's antagonist, Nurse Rachted, is widely considered to be one of the most hated villains in any movie. All around this movie is great, it touched on a lot of social issues that were serious at the time the movie was released, while still managing to make a simple, basic story very entertaining and impactful. The movie inspired the 2020 series Ratched, with characters from the show being based on characters from the movie. Leading Actress Louise Fletcher recently passed away this year, inspiring my choice to pick this movie.
In the early 1960s, Randall McMurphy, (Jack Nickolson) is considered a dangerous, anti-social, criminal. He wants to transfer himself from prison into a mental institution assuming that the enforcement would be less restrictive, although he is completely sane. The head of treatment for patients at the ward is Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). McMurphy scrambles the daily routine that she puts patients through by asking for schedule changes, inspiring resistance from control over the residents, having fun, and shows the other attendants to embrace their desires. McMurphy and Nurse Ratched get into many arguments over simple freedoms any person should have while he rebels against how she wants her institution run. Many times McMurphy’s attempts at gaining more freedom backfire or do not work, but for him trying and failing is better than doing nothing at all.
The movie's recurring theme can be seen as the struggle between chaos and order. Director Milos Forman chose to use the flawed psychiatric system of the 1960s as an example of this theme. To McMurphy and the attendants of the ward, there cannot be freedom without a bit of chaos. Yet, to maintain order from the staff's perspective, there's a need for a bit of oppression. Nurse Ratched is considered so hateful because she consciously chooses to go beyond oppression. She actively bullies her patients, degrades them, and takes pleasure in doing so. In the movie ideas of freedom are displayed through various things the attendants fight to be allowed to do. These are simple pleasures most people take for granted, such as going fishing, playing basketball, taking a vote, or even keeping private information to themselves. All liberties are either taken away or kept from the people living in the mental institution.
This movie is definitely meant to be funny and not offensive while also addressing more serious social issues. Audiences who enjoy a bit of darker or edgier comedy will enjoy this movie. I suggest you read the parental guide on IMDb for this movie just to understand how insignificant the reasoning for an R rating is for this movie. This movie shows Jack Nicholson in his prime, being hilarious and talented as ever, and this character helped launch his reputation as not only a funny actor, but a serious actor with an incredibly talented dark sense of humor. Some notable actors in secondary roles in the movie are Danny DeVito (Mathilda) and Christopher Lloyd (Doc from Back to the Future). I absolutely love this movie, every time I see it's free to watch I make sure to find time to watch it again.
4.7 ✰s / 5