Another day, another Seventies' classic...this time the excellent anti-institutionalist 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest', which saw Jack Nicholson win his first Oscar along with early appearances from Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd and Vincent Schiavelli. Adapted from the counter-culture novel by Ken Kesey, the story was first transformed into a play for Kirk Douglas, but it was his son Michael Douglas who took up the baton and transformed it into a multi-award winning film (sharing the Oscar for Best Picture with co-producer Saul Zaentz).
R. P. McMurphy (Nicholson, at peak of his powers) arrives at a mental institute after causing trouble in prison and raising some concern for his mental health, or at least doubts towards the legitimacy of his erratic behaviour. He sees his time in the hospital as a vacation and sets about rousing the heavily medicated inmates and challenging the strict regime of Nurse Ratched. Gradually order breaks down and the inmates awaken to their situation, and an alternative world outside the walls of their ward. Ultimately, however, the system wins, with the patients far too afraid of the real world to ever attempt to live the dreams that McMurphy promises them. Except the spirit of one man, the (literally) strong and silent Chief, a huge Red Indian always misunderstood and ignored, who breaks out and heads for freedom.
Milos Forman (who won the Best Director Oscar) had come from Czechoslovakia and an oppressive Soviet regime, and he considered the film a Czechoslovakian film about the fight for independent thought beneath an omnipotent dictator, who believes that they are providing the best framework to support their subjects. His efforts to achieve realism, with the actors plunged into intense method acting, undoubtable made a huge contribution to the success of this film, and the influence of Eastern European art cinema added an extra dimension. At the centre of the film is Nicholson's high energy performance and as the only star in the cast he commands the focus of each scene and the attention of his supporting actors, just as McMurphy did. Again, clever decisions on Forman's part.
The most subtle performance comes from Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched (she was also rewarded with an Oscar, for Best Suppoting Actress). Ratched is cast as the enemy, opposing McMurphy's combative demands, but much more importantly, she isn't an evil character - her fault is that she places much more faith in rules that any potential human response she might feel as a result of her time spent with the patients. McMurphy, alternatively, is increasingly awakened to the seriousness of his new friends' plight. What begins as indifference becomes excitement as he discovers an ally in Chief, but admirably he is never arrogant in his attitude to this motley crew. Ultimately, he ruins his own chances of escape because he can't bring himself to abandon the others. Instead, in one instance, he takes them fishing, and we see how his treatment of the patients, on the same level as himself and perfectly capable, produces much more encouraging results. McMurphy's gradual stirring of Chief, from frustrating games of basketball to playful camraderie is representative of his growing effect on all of the inmates, but also our growing awareness of a world, and a people, that we had previously given little consideration; them shut out of view.
The suppression of McMurphy's strong personality sees the use of electro-shock therapy, harrowing in its vivid portrayal, as well as more sympathetic discussions with Dr. Spivey, played by the real life head doctor of the institute where the film was shot. This balance is encouraging but its the iron fist of Ratched that rules on the ward. This is a world behind closed doors that only became known to the public thanks to Kesey's novel, after he worked as an orderly in an institute. Thankfully, I believe the film actually made an impact on the way such institutes were run, and this is a great example of Seventies cinema that intelligently portrayed a particular element of contemporary society, as well as producing a socially conscious effect.
It's a classic film, simple as that, with great performances throughout the cast, with the rare quality of being equally entertaining, emotionally powerful and socially effective. In the UK you can buy a 2-disc, special edition for £3. There's no excuse for not owning it.
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