One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest | 1975 | 18 | Dir. Milos Forman | US | IMDb 8.7 | 133 minutes

Certified Brilliance! A Timeless Gem!

Our 50th Year anniversary film and Member's Choice “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) is on every list of top films. Based on the novel by Ken Kesey and the award-winning play of the same name. Interestingly, Kirk Douglas starred in the play in 1963 and also bought the film rights.

An inspired decision as this was the first film since “It Happened One Night” (1934), to win all five of the top Academy Awards.  Best picture, best actor (Nicholson), best actress (Louise Fletcher),  best director (Milos Forman) and best screenplay (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman).

Randall P McMurphy is often described as Nicholson’s best performance and it is one of the high points, in a long career of enviable rebels. His characters quite often stand for freedom, anarchy, self-gratification and bucking the system, and often they also stand for generous friendship and a kind of careworn nobility. These characteristics are deployed to maximum effect in the persona of Mc Murphy, a psychiatric in-patient.

Nurse Ratched, played to perfection by Louise Fletcher, is a much more interesting, more ambiguous and nuanced character than in Ken Kesey's novel.  However, her fleeting impulses of genuine concern and compassion, only serve as a small distraction from the power battle that plays out between herself and Mc Murphy.

With stunning performances from the supporting cast, Danny de Vito brilliantly reprises the role of  Martini, from the off Broadway stage play.

Brad Dourif, buzzing with tremulous energy, controlled with consummate skill, knows when to internalize and uses his innate sensitivity to find the right tone and tempo in the role of Billy.

Will Sampson’s Chief also deserves special mention, from his quiet brooding, yet warm, presence throughout the film, to the magnificence of the sad yet uplifting ending,  which has quite deservedly achieved iconic status.

In an unusual and highly progressive move, a number of the cast were real patients from Salem Oregon, the mental health facility, where this low budget masterpiece was filmed.  Forman also rehearsed and shot the film in this facility.  Actors spent time with patients and then stayed in character during their lunch breaks. Many slept at the institution. When Nicholson arrived, just a week before shooting, he could barely tell the two groups apart. This reinforces and emphasises our common humanity and the viewer is invited to see the characters as variations on ourselves.

There are some aspects of the film that may be at odds with modern sensitivities, however some of the themes and issues explored here are as relevant now as they were 50 years ago.

·       Screen 2 upstairs

·       Doors open 7pm

·       Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.30pm

·       Free parking after 6pm if you DISPLAY an orange parking voucher, available from the Odeon lobby

·       Unreserved seating

·       We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby