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DVD REVIEW

GENRE: DRAMA

ORIGINALLY RELEASED: 1975

DVD RELEASED: 1998

Quite possibly the greatest film of all time. 

Originally written as a novel by Ken Kesey in 1962, the adapted screenplay scooped a staggering five Oscars at the 1976 awards. This incredible feat saw the film win the best actor, actress, director, picture and screenplay gongs. Despite this outstanding achievement, the film could have left empty handed on that hugely successful night and I would stand by the claim that Hollywood and the world over has not produced anything better. ‘Effortless simplicity’ is my main reason for making such a claim. In an era where special effects and high-tech visuals are often relied upon to maximise sales, rather than actually tell a story, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST chooses not to be a technologically sophisticated but astonishingly powerful. Even more basic techniques such as flashbacks and the use of a narrative have been spared by director Milos Forman, a wise decision which ensured the film remain pure in terms of having a traditional format and sequence of events. The film’s content and social message is so powerful that had Forman decided to include impressive pyrotechnics and applied a distorted format for the sake of innovation, the film’s message would have been lost in translation. Forman’s brave choice to set the film in a mental institution is what ultimately separates the film from the rest. Even now in the twenty first century, viewers are comfortable with familiarity and it’s still pretty rare for a film to be set in such an undocumented environment. This pioneering decision broke the boundaries of the drama genre back in the 1975 and remains as refreshing now as it was then.

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST is a story about fighting the establishment, conveyed through the experiences of charismatic outlaw Randle Patrick Mc Murphy. Mc Murphy, played by screen legend Jack Nicholson, is a classic outsider who finds himself in a mental institution where he has been sent to amend his rebellious ways. Surrounded by heavily sedated patients, Mc Murphy uses his dominant aura and gall in an attempt to interact with the lethargic group, a scenario made all the more intense with the presence of hardliner Nurse Ratched. With the two extreme personalities of Mc Murphy and Ratched so vividly evident early in the film, Forman creates the ultimate battleground for the two to engage. Mc Murphy is a virgin to the world of the mentally ill, which proves both his blessing and downfall. After he gets past the initial shock of the institution, he fails to see his fellow patients (including a very young Danny De Vito and Christopher Lloyd) as mentally ill, but as buddies. This notion is created by Mc Murphy’s unique style of engagement and wit which transform a group of social recluses into a band of brothers.

The most striking difference between the novel and the film is the narrative. Kesey’s original is told by Chief Bromden, a giant Native American, who in the film version, is featured as a non-narrative character. Fortunate enough to have read the novel and watched the film, had Forman remained more loyal to the novel, there is no doubt in my mind that ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST would still have five Oscars to its name. JG