There are hardly 4 to 5 films which have successfully bagged 5 major Academy Awards including best director, actor in a leading role, actress in a leading role, best screenplay, and best picture of course. I decided to continue my journey of IMDb’s top 250 and decided to watch One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest this time because you don’t get these 5 awards easily.
source: movies.alphacoders.com
Based on a novel by Ken Kesey of the same name, this movie has some alterations which were necessary for director Milos Foreman in creating a new medium.
The Plot:
The opening shot of the film shows a car with Randall McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) in it traveling at an even pace on an empty road. It is so easy on the eye that it asks you to keep going without breaking this tempo.
The film is about a person who reaches a medical facility that diagnosed and treated mental illnesses in order to get evaluated so that he can go back to the real world and rejoin his workplace. His arrival starts a new wave of differences as Jack Nicholson’s character is that of a spoiled brat who loves women and booze.
source: https://byretheatre.com/
The themes he brings with himself is cigarette betting and playing cards with pornographic images on them. Another major theme of this film revolves around ‘keys’. There are a number of stupendous visuals that show keys in action, depicting the freedom demanded by the silent protest of the inmates of the medical facility.
The Criticism:
Made in 1975, this movie is above its competitors and even today, no such stories are able to make their way to the silver screen or at least to our TV sets.
The best thing about this film is that it is fearless. It’s bold like a lion who is not afraid to tell the world that even the dominating United States of America is nothing but a loser in providing its citizens with the decorous health facilities.
source: www.goodreads.com
I never reveal the complete story in my reviews and the same is going to happen today because I believe that the audience should never get a real picture beforehand but I would love to share it with you guys that a medical drama with a cute bomb of emotions is waiting for you in this movie.
The Verdict:
Its actors are the real show stealers. Sheer brilliance! And Mr. Nicholson is at his best. Let me repeat. He is at his BEST! I am in love with this fella. There are moments where you would love to hit the pause button to just absorb the evil smile of Nicholson which will remind you of his ‘Joker’ he played in one of the Batman movies. Heath Ledger surely has a competitor who is somehow a better Joker than him. Watch this movie and you will know how.
source: batman.wikia.com
To sum it up, all I would say that One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is a marriage between a director and his actors where you as a guest are spending nothing, yet you will get a buffet of emotional rides with a gift hamper in its last shot.
