Combining iconic performances and universal themes of individualism versus the establishment, Forman’s film is perhaps Jack Nicholson’s greatest performance. He plays Randle Patrick McMurphy, a charismatic convict feigning mental illness in order to serve his sentence at a psychiatric hospital and avoid prison labour.
Here, he becomes an unlikely leader to the ward’s patients, helping them to discover self-belief and confidence. He also attempts to steer them away from the regime of the cold and oppressive nurse, Mildred Ratched, brilliantly played by Louise Fletcher. Fletcher’s performance earned her an Oscar for best actress (along with best actor for Nicholson, and three other wins for best picture, director and adapted screenplay).
Forman’s film achieves the seemingly impossible by having the audience root for a morally corrupt character (McMurphy’s convictions include statutory rape). This detail is mentioned just once, early in the film, and is seemingly forgotten in order to reorient him as an unlikely saviour, rather than unsavoury character. Nicholson’s magnetism certainly helps.
Scenes of the anti-hero warmly bonding with his fellow male patients are in stark contrast to the bureaucratic iciness of Ratched, who coldly controls the men of the asylum.
The hospital ward becomes the metaphorical arena for a battle between individual and establishment. The timeliness of this story – and of the problematic treatment of mental health patients – is one of the reasons the film remains so timeless.
Another is the significant role that games play in bringing the group of outsiders together.
The magic circle
Johan Huizinga was one of the first cultural theorists to analytically consider the role of games, describing play as a type of “magic circle”.
This was because it marked out a separate space from the rest of the world. Examples of this term can range from the football pitch to the card table or even a stage, where an audience gather to watch a play, rarely crossing the invisible line.
Huizinga’s term carved out a separate area purely for those players involved in the act of play. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, McMurphy galvanises his fellow patients through play, teaching them a range of games from blackjack to basketball. He introduces some of them to baseball through his endeavour to watch the World Series on television, forbidden by Ratchet’s ward policy.
As he opens these magical circles to his ward-mates, so the confidence of his peers grows, animated with joy and camaraderie. The strict bureaucratic rules from Ratched are filtered with rules from games. McMurphy becomes a reluctant leader, initialling conning the men, but then desperately trying to help them live.
Another moment of play occurs when McMurphy dupes his way into taking the patients out on a fishing trip. He impersonates a doctor and passes the patients off as his colleagues.
In the fishing boat scene, one of the most optimistic within the film (and the only one that takes place away from the hospital grounds), the patients come together like a family. McMurphy is the metaphorical father, teaching them how to bait a hook.
The film circumvents this obvious opportunity for McMurphy’s escape. He instead chooses to offer a form of escape to his companions, enabling them to see what freedom and independence looks like, if only for an afternoon.
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Play of course is also a central factor in McMurphy’s presence at the hospital from the beginning. It’s left uncertain whether or not he is simulating mental illness in order to avoid a tougher sentence.
Viewers are reminded of this pretence after McMurphy is forced to undergo electroshock therapy. He returns to the ward acting as though he is now cognitively impaired, before flashing the classic Nicholson grin, which lights him up (to paraphrase McMurphy himself) like a pinball machine.
His play is often weaponised as an attack on Ratched and her rules – or perhaps even on her entire gender. McMurphy’s deck of erotic playing cards is often presented at moments of play to remind us of his unbridled sexuality and ambiguous morality.
But of course, this film isn’t just about McMurphy or Ratched. It’s an ensemble film, beautifully performed by outstanding actors, including Will Sampson, Christopher Lloyd, Brad Dourif and Danny DeVito.
The film has been parodied many times, from The Simpsons to British sitcom Spaced, reminding viewers over many years of its cultural significance. In 2008 one of its original stars, DeVito, parodied the film in his sitcom, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Fifty years on, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest has lost none of its power. So find a copy and hit play for a rewatch; its still as fresh as a new pack of Juicy Fruit.
Daniel O'Brien, Lecturer, Department of Literature Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.