{"id":44163,"date":"2019-07-29T22:34:28","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T05:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=44163"},"modified":"2021-03-28T10:37:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-28T17:37:09","slug":"one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest-1975","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=44163","title":{"rendered":"One Flew Over the Cuckoo&#8217;s Nest (1975)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I&#8217;d like to keep him on the ward. I think we can help him.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Poster-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-44166\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Poster-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Poster-86x128.jpg 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Poster.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA rebellious prisoner (Jack Nicholson) is sent to a psychiatric hospital for assessment, where he quickly butts heads with the strict head nurse (Louise Fletcher) and does what he can to bring autonomy and fun to his fellow inmates&#8217; lives.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cat-and-Mouse<\/li>\n<li>Doctors and Nurses<\/li>\n<li>Jack Nicholson Films<\/li>\n<li>Louise Fletcher Films<\/li>\n<li>Mental Illness<\/li>\n<li>Milos Forman Films<\/li>\n<li>Nonconformists<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this &#8220;successful, emotionally satisfying adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo's_Nest_(novel)\">Ken Kesey&#8217;s 1963 novel<\/a>&#8221; &#8212; which &#8220;swept the Oscars&#8221; &#8212; features Nicholson as &#8220;a likeable drifter&#8221; who &#8220;tries to shake things up so that the inmates can make choices about their own lives&#8221; and &#8220;serves&#8230; as their model for nonconformity and freedom&#8221;. He notes that the &#8220;film has a half-comic tone for much of the way, partly because McMurphy [Nicholson] sees the absurdity of the situation in the ward without comprehending the tragic consequences should he protest too adamently&#8221;. Peary states he believes &#8220;the reason this picture has always had a youth cult is that until the end it has all the elements of later comic youth films in which fun-loving and belligerent young rebels\/students play pranks that cause the leaders of their institutions to have anxiety attacks&#8221;; he posits that Nicholson &#8220;is an ideal, dignity-out-of-the-window hero for young people who must deal with robotlike bureaucrats like Ratched [Fletcher] every day.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>In <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>, Peary gives the Best Picture award to John Huston&#8217;s <em>The Man Who Would Be King<\/em> instead, but preserves the Best Actor award for Nicholson, noting: &#8220;Never known for low-key performances, Nicholson was perfectly cast as this man who pretends to be mad and who, if we equate rebellion with abnormality, may in fact be so&#8221; given that he &#8220;certainly fits in better with the mental patients than with those who run the asylum.&#8221; Peary writes: &#8220;How Ratched detests this man with the lunatic grin and laugh, who sees through her, who makes her blush with his crude language&#8230;, who makes himself a thorn in her side but pretends innocence&#8230;&#8221; Despite this, Peary argues McMurphy &#8220;is probably Nicholson&#8217;s sweetest, most caring character&#8221; given that &#8220;fighting Ratched for the other patients&#8217; minds and souls, he manages to improve their outlooks on life.&#8221; Unfortunately, he fails to see Ratched &#8220;for the dangerous witch she is. Only too late does he realize that Ratched will do anything to maintain authority in her world.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p>Balancing out Peary&#8217;s perspective is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2648nest.html\">DVD Savant<\/a>, who asserts that the film&#8217;s very concept is problematic because &#8220;from the evidence we see McMurphy is the author of all his own problems and a genuine menace to society&#8221;, someone &#8220;who would bring down disaster almost anywhere he went&#8221;. DVD Savant refers to him as a &#8220;thoughtless rebel&#8221; who &#8220;goes up against Nurse Ratched to flatter his own ego&#8221; and actually puts the patients at risk during the &#8220;unscheduled day trip on the fishing boat&#8221;. With that said, he&#8217;s no fan of Ratched either, instead sharing how &#8220;Louise Fletcher&#8217;s layered performance lets us know that the McMurphy-Ratched personality clash brings out the worst in both of them&#8221;: &#8220;McMurphy becomes more reckless and cocky, while Ratched harbors a powerful resentment behind her veneer of professionalism&#8221; and &#8220;takes out her rage on the weaker of the patients&#8221;. Ultimately, this is a brutal cat-and-mouse tale, with institutional power winning out, but not before we are shown both sides of the picture: while the men find solace and comfort in their constraining environment (and taking anarchic risks isn&#8217;t necessarily the right or best course of action), they have at least been taught to question, laugh, and speak up.   <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jack Nicholson as McMurphy<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Nicholson.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Nicholson-1024x619.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"387\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-44167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Nicholson-1024x619.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Nicholson-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Nicholson-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Nicholson-768x464.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Fletcher.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Fletcher-1024x640.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-44169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Fletcher-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Fletcher-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Fletcher-300x187.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Fletcher-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Will Sampson as Chief Bromden<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Chief.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Chief-1024x616.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"385\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-44168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Chief-1024x616.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Chief-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Chief-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Chief-768x462.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Haskell Wexler and Bill Butler&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Cinematography-1024x644.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"403\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-44165\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Cinematography-1024x644.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Cinematography-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Cinematography-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/One-Flew-Cuckoo-Cinematography-768x483.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an Oscar-winning favorite. Deemed as culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant by the United States Library of Congress, and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1993.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0073486\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/85669\/one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest\/#articles-reviews?articleId=296733\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2648nest.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/reviews\/33995\/one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest\/\">DVD Talk Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/onef.html\">FilmSite Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d like to keep him on the ward. I think we can help him.&#8221; Synopsis: A rebellious prisoner (Jack Nicholson) is sent to a psychiatric hospital for assessment, where he quickly butts heads with the strict head nurse (Louise Fletcher) and does what he can to bring autonomy and fun to his fellow inmates&#8217; lives. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Cat-and-Mouse Doctors and Nurses Jack Nicholson Films Louise Fletcher Films Mental Illness Milos Forman Films Nonconformists Response to Peary\u2019s Review:&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=44163\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44163"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70906,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44163\/revisions\/70906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}