"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) - RE-WATCH

Rank on the AFI List: #33

Synopsis (according to imdb.com)
Upon arrival at a mental institution, a brash rebel rallies the patients together to take on the oppressive Nurse Ratched, a woman more a dictator than a nurse.

LET ME EXPLAIN...
I love The Dark Knight.  It's one of my favorite movies, and its theme of Order vs Chaos was a great choice for a Batman vs Joker duel.  "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" seems to convey that same theme, but this time you're rooting for chaos to defeat order.  That made this film interesting to me.

Both Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched are by far what make this movie.  Their subtleties during the "battle scenes" - as I like to call them - were wonderful (particularly Nurse Ratched's icy glares).

What makes this a "Top 100" Movie?
While I don't think this is the most entertaining or groundbreaking film, it's a uniquely-told story of good vs evil, life vs death (or rather, "living vs dying").  It was like I was watching a war movie set inside a mental institution, with mentally-disabled people being the weapons, the victims, the prize, and the heroes.  "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was nominated for 9 Academy Awards, winning 5 of them: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Acting for Nicholson and Fletcher.

Complaints:
Nothing that I can pinpoint in a pithy comment.  Just overall, a lot of the scenes seemed like they were missing something, but I can't say what that is.

LET ME SUM UP...
Unique film about the battle between controlling mentally-disabled people in an institution vs bringing them back to life with spontaneity and chaos.  Overall, not the greatest movie, but not bad, either.

MY RATING: 4/10 (2 lower from my previous rating)

1 comment:

John said...

To fully understand and appreciate this movie, you should read the book. The entire story is told first person through the eyes and mind of The Chief. You also need to keep in mind that the author, Ken Kesey, used to work at a mental institution before he wrote the book and was big into psychedelic drugs for most of his life. I think that this really gives an added context to the story.