In a State Mental Institution, Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) rules her ward with a strict, totalitarian regime, and unquestioned rules. One day, in walks Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), an anarchic, party-loving demi-criminal who has faked insanity in order to spend a prison sentence here, assuming it to be easier. However, Randle and Ratched come to blows from the start, and as Randle starts to lead an uprising against Ratched’s regime, things escalate badly…
Back in 1934, It Happened One Night achieved one of the biggest wins at the Oscars by garnering the 5 most coveted awards- Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay. No film managed to equalise this feat - until One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest came along 40 years later (the third and, so far, final film to achieve this will be reviewed when we reach the 1990s). It is easy to see why Cuckoo’s Nest did so well. In an age when grit, misery, and a general hatred of society got people into the cinema, Cuckoo’s Nest blends this dark edge with much more heart and humour than its contemporaries (namely The Godfather films), and some of its success lies in the fact that audiences were, for once, laughing and cheering.
The original novel by Ken Kesey, who spent some time working in a mental health institution and put much of his experiences into the book, was published in the '60s. The book tackled the treatment of patients suffering from mental health problems head on and slotted perfectly into place at a time when traditional forms of mental health treatment such as shock therapy, general imprisonment and the assumption that anyone who doesn’t comply with society’s rules is mentally deranged, were going out the window in place of more empathetic therapies. Cuckoo’s Nest exposed and questioned the cruelty of the mental health system when civil rights and freedom of expression were the order of the day. Shockingly, Kesey hated the film, particularly citing the fact that it isn’t told from the point of view of the mostly-silent Chief Bromden. Apparently, he refused to watch the film, until he accidentally put it on whilst flicking through TV channels many years later, and it took him several minutes before realising what he was watching.
This is a major shame - Cuckoo’s Nest is a phenomenal piece of work, and one of the highest points of '70s cinema. Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher give two of the best performances of their careers. You can’t take your eyes off Randle and despite his neanderthal attitudes to women, you enjoy his unpredictability and the ironic fact that he’s probably much crazier than the other patients in the hospital. I love Fletcher even more. She’s a villain so cold, unfeeling and menacing that I get a huge kick out of hating her. “Hate” is probably an understatement - the audience is literally clamouring for her head on a spike and her body to be tarred and feathered by the end of this film. She’s magnificently awful, and I especially enjoyed the fact that her double-Swiss roll hairdo looks like devil horns. An appropriate touch.
Cuckoo’s Nest is a simple tale. But what it lacks in plot it makes up for in characters. While Ratched represents the old therapeutic system, valuing propriety, self-control and social conformity (or else), Randle is the new philosophy that gave birth in the 60s, favouring self-expression, humanism and submitting to basic human needs for consumption, sex and revelry. Through these characters, the battle between the old generation and the new is manifested with stirring results. The supporting cast of inmates are also strong. Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd and Vincent Schiavelli all pretty much started their careers here. Many of the cast stayed in character between takes (even some of the extras were real mental health patients) and it is evident that they’re having a great time. The party scene and their fishing trip are both infectiously entertaining segments.
I can’t really fault One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s a funny, powerful drama and whilst it maintains some of the despondency of the '70s, it has a sweet-nature and affection for its good guys that feels refreshing at this stage in our project.
Highlight
Pretty much the final 20 minutes. I won’t give it away, but Randle and Ratched clash in such a heartbreaking and melodramatic fashion that you will screaming, cheering and sobbing at the same time. It’s super-involving stuff.
Lowlight
There’s a couple of dialogue that go on a bit, but generally this film is perfectly made. Actually, scratch that. There are no lowlights. I’m being pedantic.
Mark
10/10
A couple of days ago, I turned to Paul and asked him how many of these films so far we’ve seen that he would actively choose to watch again at some point. His answer was ‘not many’, and I’ve been inclined to agree. While there’s some gorgeous stand out pieces (It Happened One Night, How Green Was My Valley, Bridge Over the River Kwai) a lot of these films have felt studiously Important and actually failed to be fully entertaining. For the last few weeks I’ve been dreading watching these films because I have continually failed to be entertained. In fact I’ve spent most of the ‘70s being quite bored and wishing it was over.
So it is with great relief that I actually enjoyed watching this! It’s a cracking film, filled with tension and uncertainty and a terrific unhinged central performance from Jack Nicholson. The film itself doesn’t have much in the way of plot, but it doesn’t seem to matter as we see the inhabitants of the mental hospital bicker their way through their days, establishing some kind of order out of the stringent chaos.
It boasts some lovely performances too, especially with Brad Dourif as the vulnerable, moon-calf Billy who falls in love at the drop of a hat. I found the scene where he has sex with one of Randle’s squeezes incredibly affecting, the image of them nestled together when discovered is so quietly tender that it does more that a lot of the rest of the film to highlight that these are people who still love and want physical contact, regardless of their mental condition.
I also loved Will Sampson as Chief, the man who slowly becomes the actual hero of the film. His last scene with Randle (no spoilers) is incredibly moving, and his ultimate decision becomes all the more powerful - and understandable.
I completely disagree with Paul on one front though. Nurse Ratched is far from villainous. And actually this annoyed me a bit because in the novel she is so utterly horrendous that I felt for whatever reason they decided to go another way. While Louise Fletcher turns in a magnificent performance, a stony-faced nurse constantly faced with rebellion, I actually found most of her actions understandable. Patients beg her not to tell people of their actions, but what sort of professional would lie and cover up behaviour? She’d be ultimately condemnable for it. And actually I found most of her choices to be the right ones in terms of professional pathways. If there is an enemy in this film, it’s actually the health service itself, who readily use Electric Shock Therapy and lobotomies instead of addressing the issues themselves. But that’s the wider industry, not Ratched. And while I appreciate her having a more layered character, I did miss the utter villain from the novel.
It was great to watch a compelling film again, and while I didn’t particularly feel sorry for the characters when various horrid things happened, I was always interested in the events. The terrific set pieces of the film - the ship voyage and the party - are fantastic and always with an underlying sense of tension. These are severely mentally unwell people and although the scenes are filled with fun and excitement, we’re always aware that they are one step away from collapsing and plunging into anarchy. It’s this sense of danger that underlies the film, and means we never quite relax. A very good piece of work.
Highlight
Louise Fletcher, returning to the ward after the destruction of the party has been wreaked. She quivers with rage (again - understandably) and it’s a masterclass in subtlety.
Lowlight
I wanted more of a villain in Nurse Ratched. It’s just that she’s so awful in the book, and I felt her strongly diluted here.
Mark
8/10
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