Directed by:
Miloš FormanCinematography:
Haskell WexlerComposer:
Jack NitzscheCast:
Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Will Sampson, Brad Dourif, Sydney Lassick, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, William Duell (more)VOD (3)
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A nice rest in a state mental hospital beats a stretch in the pen, right? Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a free-spirited con with lightning in his veins and glib on his tongue, fakes insanity and moves in with what he calls the "nuts." Immediately, his contagious sense of disorder runs up against numbing routine. No way should guys pickled on sedatives shuffle around in bathrobes when the World Series is on. This means war! On one side is McMurphy. On the other is soft-spoken Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), among the most coldly monstrous villains in film history. At stake is the fate of every patient on the ward. Based on Ken Kesey's acclaimed bestseller. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (12)
Excellent, but I can’t give it a full score, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest didn’t impress me enough for that. Besides, I doubt the film was supposed to make me sympathise with the character of Louise Fletcher, and that Nicholson’s character was supposed to get on my nerves. The nuthouse is a brilliantly depressive setting, but the film never managed to transmit that very well to me as a viewer. It just failed to leave me with that unique 100% impression. 85%
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A truly good and interesting movie. I’m not too keen on Jack Nicholson, but here he gives an excellent performance and his McMurphy is a really great piece of acting, but equally great is Will Sampson in the role of the taciturn Chief. In fact, all of the acting performances deserve admiration. Perfect nutters :-). And Louise Fletcher as the dictatorial nurse is asking to be strangled. Forman’s masterpiece.
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What more can I say about this cinematic gem when practically everything has been said. This film stands especially on the performances of the many actors involved: the bohemian Jack Nicholson, the devilish Louise Fletcher, the good-natured Will Sampson, the dim-witted Brad Dourif, all of whom give wonderful performances. It is because of them, and the oppressive mental hospital setting that almost always works, that this film the most celebrated Czech director is a cinematic gem of the highest quality. In short, a beautiful made film for which we can be truly grateful to Miloš Forman.
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An inexpressible acting and directing concerto, based on an excellent book and a great script. It's hard to say to whom to most "attribute" the suggestiveness of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, whether the actor ensemble, who spent several weeks behind the walls of the world of "abnormality" to absorb the color there (and they succeeded perfectly), or Miloš Forman, whose sensitive and basically inconspicuous but perfectly well-established direction give the film a touch of quiet, subliminal drama, which reaches its greatest intensity in the group therapy scenes... Perhaps the most appropriate conclusion is that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a perfectly coordinated symphony of all instruments, dominated by the solo parts of Jack Nicholson (incredibly natural and truly manic) and Louise Fletcher (whose beautiful façade hides a minimalist, gruesome interior). The quiet struggle of these two elements – the noisy bon vivant and troublemaker McMurphy and the despotic ruler of the Ratched sisters perfectly complements the smaller but all the more respectable acting party of the department's inmates. Miloš Forman moves in the world of the "crazies" with absolute clarity, with a documentary overview and flawless feeling for the inner drama of the characters. Years later, this image of individual freedom and joy of living in the midst of a world that eats its inhabitants mercilessly is still much better than everything that has been filmed on the subject (including the calculated The Shawshank Redemption).
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It may be surprising in connection with the name of Miloš Forman, but his name always comes to mind whenever I think of political motifs in film-making, specifically left-wing political concepts. While his films don't feature revolutions or strike movements, nor are they simple and clear political manifestos, Forman works in a complex way with the basic ideals of intellectual leftism and depicts in his films the boundaries of human freedom, democracy, and equality. For example, in Ragtime, he explores the issue of racial emancipation, in Hair the anti-war movement, and in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, as an uninvolved observer, he follows the perennial conflict between authoritarianism, hiding behind competence and responsibility for the entrusted flock, represented by the "big" sister, and between free-thinking and anarchy represented by the volatile character portrayed by Jack Nicholson. On one hand, there is responsibility, but do we even know if those who decide are always selfless and just? On the other hand, are those who operate under the concept of absolute freedom capable of bearing the responsibility for the consequences of their actions, and would a society composed solely of McMurphys function? Wouldn't what we admire in his fight for his own rights soon be at our throats if it surrounded us? And above all, is democratic voting in a society composed of average individuals often with poor education, low intelligence, and minimal motivation the best way to govern society? Doesn't democratic choice when appointing a political position equate to voting by incapacitated patients in a psychiatric institution? From an acting, directing, and screenwriting perspective, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is one of the peaks of world cinema, and Forman has rightfully become a legend of American cinema. Overall impression: 100%.
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