AFI #33: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Radio Ballarat and South West Victoria on December 11, 2020.

This is part of a series of articles reviewing the American Film Institute's Top 100 Films, as unveiled in 2007. Why am I doing this? Because the damned cinemas were closed and I had to review something, and I can't stop now until I finish.

(M) ★★★★★

Director: Miloš Forman.

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, William Redfield, Brad Dourif, Sydney Lassick, Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Dean Brooks, William Duell, Vincent Schiavelli, Michael Berryman, Nathan George, Marya Small, Scatman Crothers, Alonzo Brown, Mwako Cumbaka.

"Dude. Your breath."

Many great films continue to ask questions, decades on from their release. One of my favourites is "Is Nurse Ratched evil?". Equally poignant is "Is Randall P McMurphy a good man?".

After yet another viewing of Forman's anti-authoritarian masterpiece One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, I'm no closer to an answer on either of those questions. It's very easy to call Ratched - played with quiet power by Fletcher - a villain. Indeed, the American Film Institute put her at #5 on their list of the greatest villains of all time. That's higher than the shark from Jaws, the alien from Alien, and Amon Goeth from Schindler's List.

But part of the beauty of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is its complexity, particularly evident on repeat viewings. Ratched and McMurphy are two ends of a grey spectrum spanning good and evil, with Ratched most certainly at the evil end and McMurphy at the other. But neither one is a perfect embodiment of those black-and-white notions. (In the book, Ratched is far more explicitly evil.)

It's possible to view Ratched as merely a cog in a broken machine. She lacks the intent to do evil - one could argue she is actually trying to do the best for her patients within the limitations of scientific understanding at that time regarding mental illness. When she does cause horrible outcomes for patients, it's arguable she is still trying to do the right thing by them. The system is evil and the methods available to her would be proven evil, but she isn't necessarily evil.

Similarly McMurphy - played with calculated exuberance by Nicholson - is not a hero. He had sex with a 15-year-old and is trying to game the (admittedly broken) system to dodge serving his time. He's selfish and dangerous to be around. Predominantly, the good things he does for his fellow "inmates" are a side effect of his own gratification, and it's debatable how helpful some of his actions really are, especially in the long run.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Either way, these are fascinating things to think about and re-examine when re-watching this remarkable.

Ultimately, Ratched and McMurphy have come to represent the opposing forces of order and chaos, of authority and rebellion, of the establishment and the oppressed. The book's arrival in 1962 coincided with growing discontent against the institutionalisation of the mentally ill, as well as the rise of the Civil Rights movement and the counter-culture. By the time the film came out, those conversations were still happening along with others; the Vietnam War and Watergate helped further entrench a distrust of American authority. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - book and film - was the perfect allegory for that distrust, suggesting that maybe those with the power were running a broken system.

"(It's) one of the most uncompromising and radical films to have emerged from contemporary Hollywood and postulates a marvellous triumph for the human spirit over the dehumanising forces of repression and enforcement," wrote Allan Hunter in The Wordsworth Book of Movie Classics.

This spirit of rebellion finds its wings in Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman's faithful Oscar-winning adaptation, Forman's astute-but-unflashy Oscar-winning direction, and the electrifying cast. It's a perfect storm that culminated in the film becoming only the second film (of three films to date) to win the Big Five at the Academy Awards - that is Oscars for best film, director, screenplay, actor and actress (the other two are It Happened One Night and Silence Of The Lambs, both of which are on this list).

The most noteworthy of its winning elements has to be the cast.  

Both Fletcher and Nicholson's turns regularly end up on lists of the greatest performances of all time for very good reason - they're a perfect yin and yang, and their shared scenes create the sparks that set the film alight. But the supporting cast is also perfect. From the towering Sampson through to newcomers Lloyd, DeVito and Dourif (all in their first film roles), there isn't a dud among them. 

It's easy to celebrate the "us vs them" nature of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, but it's actually more nuanced than you might expect. Yes, the oppressive system ultimately crushes and destroys the free spirit trying to fight back, but don't forget this is a man who likes, by his own admission "to fight and fuck too much" (including a 15-year-old girl). Yes, McMurphy helped Billy Bibbit (Dourif) briefly discover some self-confidence, but is doing so through engaging the services of a prostitute going to achieve realistic and long-lasting outcomes? There are no easy answers here.

I say all this because I love One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, and because I see something new on every viewing. This time, what I saw was the imperfections in the characters in its morality play, which just made it all the more fascinating. 

From its opening with its subtle hints at the key role Chief (Sampson) will play to its horrible/sad/powerful ending, this remains one of the greatest films of all time for its tonally perfect examination of power, authoritarianism, oppression, mental illness, morality and more.